


At the End of Everything

by AlkaiaSable



Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Original Character(s), Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-04-27 17:46:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 37,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14430867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlkaiaSable/pseuds/AlkaiaSable
Summary: After being adopted out of the Seed family as a child, Eva is back in town and ready to rebuild those lost years.





	1. Chapter 1

They had been family and that had been taken away from her, time and time again. Flames had danced sprightly on the old barn as the ash fell like the first snow of winter. She recalled the way _he_ had held her, whispering calming nothings as the foster family perished alongside the old farm. _That was the last time they had been a family._ She had seen them from time to time as they were passed between families and with no effort, her new family whisked her away, halfway around the world to start a new life.

Eva stretched, her muscle stung as she finished up her training for the day, as much as she despised it. She had begun to work out as a teenager, merely so she could hold her own weight if she ever got into trouble - which had happened more than once. As a past victim of abuse and bullying, the woman had always remembered her lost family and the strength they had given her from a young age. It was all in the past, from what she knew, one had died in the war and the other two were psychopaths.  
She grabbed her belongings, slowly strolling back towards the bathroom as the daily paper caught her eye, _‘The Montana Mystery’._ Eva couldn’t help but chuckle to herself, what event could the media want to announce to the world this time? Was it another child who got stuck in a drain? She hadn’t been to America since she was 6, she was _taken_ from her brothers and put in the care of a quiet couple from New Zealand. Eva had put in the effort to write to her siblings but the time between each reply became dragged out and slowly ceased to exist. Batting those thoughts out of her mind, she dashed off for a long relaxing bath to calm her aching muscles.  
  
Snatching the copy of the newspaper, Eva slumped into a bench seat, sipping slowly on her coffee as she read up on the _so-called_ mystery of Montana.  
“A mass of people disappearing and a family who call themselves Project at Eden’s Gate?” Eva sighed in disbelief “Damn, I wanted something better like Sasquatch gets caught by a ghost hunter who was hunted by a werewolf.” She dropped the papers as she took a long sip of coffee, sighing contently as her wandering gaze darted across as she began to find out more about the Eden’s Gate family.  
  
The deeper she dove into the hysterics of the Project, the more involved she was. Eva Sable flicked between articles, families had vanished, houses had been burnt - This religious group either had too much time on their hands or way too much money and power - She thought the latter would be better for the sake of those who still lived in the county.  
“They have their own website” She mused to herself, rubbing her heavily inked arm as she hesitantly clicked on the link. Maneuvering through the pages, she landed on a tab talking about the Heralds; __  
Inquisitor, Siren, Soldier, Father  
  


The thing that struck Eva wasn’t the hell that this church had brought upon innocent lives, instead, it was three names that stood out, their stories, their looks, their _lives._ It matched hers, were they really the men who she had called brothers 24 years ago? Rubbing her temples, she bought a one-way ticket to Montana before typing an email, requesting to meet these heralds.  
_‘Why do I always do reckless things before I wait for a response’_ She pulled her unkempt hair into a loose ponytail as she started to pack her belongings for the trip, Eva didn’t know what she needed and what she could live with, but she had two thoughts on her mind, were her brothers really the leaders of some cult and what was the best place she could arm herself - in case she got into any sort of trouble in Hope County.  
  
A couple of days had passed since she had initially found out about The P.E.G and she regretted every second she had pried into the mystery. She cursed to herself and her love for mysteries, as she drove along the lonely country roads. Eva hadn’t even booked a place to stay, everything was probably going to be quiet anyway, even if she had to pay a little bit more - she wouldn’t mind. Pulling onto the dusty road leading towards the county, her phone buzzed with a new message, reminding her that tomorrow she was coming face to face with the leaders of the Project.  
After what felt like days, after all, it was merely a few hours, Eva pulled up in a small town called Falls End. With her eyes set on a cold beer and her heart set on a cozy bed, she trudged towards The Spread Eagle, which at a glance looked fairly trustworthy.

Eva took her sweet time savoring every drop of the icy cold beer in front of her, it was just what anyone could expect from a backwater town. The locals had seemed friendly enough, the owner of the bar, Mary May Fairgrave had offered her the spare room for the night.  
“What brings you to the county?” Mary had already begun to pour another beer for Eva,  
“Hoping to reunite with some extended family, haven’t seen them since I was six” The brunette swiftly lied, not sure on anyone's stance with the Project.  
“Stay away from the cult” A husky drawl instantly attracted Eva’s attention,  
“Don’t scare the guest, Nick Rye” Mary scolded gently, dashing off to help in the small kitchen.  
Intrigued, Eva slipped over to sit opposite the man,  
“Cult?” She mused, pulling her dark auburn hair into a messy braid as Rye began to recall how the Project turned up.

  
Eva had barely slept a wink, so many thoughts raced through her mind, _how could anyone take someone away from their family._ She knew the feeling all too well and she had never understood how people could be so content with doing such a horrid thing.  
Sighing to herself, she got ready for the day ahead - she didn’t need to go to her meeting until the early evening.  
She took a leisurely stroll around the small township, hearing citizens stories about the P.E.G church added more mystery to the saga, she was already considering helping the resistance.  Her mind wandered alongside her; _What if these men, these horrid stories were about her long lost brothers?_ If they were, she was going to give them a piece of her mind.  
  
Getting directions, Eva slung her prized army jacket over her shoulder - it had been a gift from her adoptive parents. The woman arrived at the Lamb of God church, a full thirty minutes before the meeting, Eva was nervous and would never admit it. She had concealed a small hunting knife and had bought a Colt 1911,  
“Who brings a gun to a holy place” She murmured to herself, as she pulled herself up onto the dusty windowsill of the centered stained glass window. Last time she had been in a church was for her fathers funeral, she only remembered sitting on her oldest brothers lap, he had whispered small words of comfort to her.  
  
The sound of car doors slamming pulled her from her thoughts, heavy footsteps on gravel made Eva peer up towards the large doors, fingers delicately resting on the hidden pistol. Three muscular silhouettes strolled in, guns at the ready - these men were not messing around.  
“Are you Eva Sable?” The youngest man mused, shrugging off his trench coat to lay it on the back of a pew,  
“I am” She would sigh as the men peered her over - eyes wandering.  
“Arms up” The red-haired man suddenly ordered, stepping forward to pat her down for weapons,  
“I don’t think that's necessary” She hissed, stepping back from him, only for him to grip her arm roughly.  
“You request us for a meeting and you follow our rules” He’d hiss in her ear as he’d search her for weapons, laughing at how pitiful they were “You couldn’t even get yourself something good girlie.”  
_‘Something has really fucked them up’_ Eva watched sadly as her _siblings_ started their spiel about the reaping.  
  
“I’m going to stop you there” Eva held her hand up to shush them, “I don’t believe I am the right person for your cause.” She sighed, grabbing her jacket and her two weapons back from the pews.  
“Your soul needs to be saved, my child” Joseph touched her shoulder firmly, John and Jacob began to circle her as if she was prey,  
“No” Eva would chuckle, wiping away tears as they began to form, “My soul doesn’t need to be saved.” She picked up the pace, one goal in mind, **_get out of here.  
_**

“If you try to run, we will catch you” Joseph almost sung from behind her as she shoved the large wooden doors open. Glancing back at the three looming figures, Eva scoffed, if they wanted to play, she would join in. Eva cursed her past self for not parking closer, hesitantly for a few seconds, she mustered up all the energy she had and took off into the thick forests. Pressing her back against the trunk of a tree, Eva struggled to calm her breathing, her eyes darted around struggling to find a way out. Being hunted brought back _those_ Memories that had caused her to lost hours of sleep over. Hearing a twig break behind her, she took the opportunity to dash off again, her muscles ached, sweat dripped down her like droplets of rain on a window. Her gaze flickered around as she noticed a clearing in the trees, regaining the confidence she felt herself pick up speed. __  
'C’mon Eva, you can do it. Just 200 meters to go’  She cheered herself on mentally, she counted down after a set amount of steps. As the clearing began to open before her, a rough hand gripped her forearm, slamming her into a tree before tossing her to the ground. Landing with a weak howl of pain, a heavy sensation became sudden as the oldest sibling rested his knee against her back.  
“Did you really think you were free?” He smiled eerily as his other two siblings slowly approached from the forest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Far Cry 5 Soundtrack is really helping me write this :)  
> If anyone wants to give me tips, tricks or ideas I would be thankful

Eva squirmed under the weight of Jacob, trying to find an advantage, the clearing behind her would be another run and she didn’t think she had the energy to do that after the obstacle course of a forest.  
“I’d have a bullet in your leg before you even got 20 meters away” Jacob chuckled, patting her gently as he slipped her wallet and phone out of her pocket, “Thank you for your contribution.”  
She writhed as she was forced to sit up as Joseph began to ramble nonsense from his Bible, she decided it was easier to humor Him by pretending to listen. It was blatantly obvious that her gaze was hovering on John, he was happily picking from her wallet as he worked on unlocking her phone.  
“The password is 3733” Eva sighed after a few minutes, causing the men to look at her in confusion, “The letters the numbers fall on spell out my _biological_ last name, in no particular order.”  
  
Joseph watched contently over John’s shoulder as they began to search through her personal information, work, home, even if she had _any_ criminal convictions.  
“Oh, you broke into a house and got caught” John would hum to himself, “Were you being _envious_  that you didn’t own the contents?”  
Eva chuckled to herself, remembering those late nights as a young adult, doing reckless things, breaking into abandoned areas and houses as she saw fit, never taking anything - merely finding the comfort in empty places, “Well I was only caught that once, doesn’t mean I didn’t do it a few times.” She could almost feel comfortable about being around these men… her _brothers_ again.  
"Oh, I think you definitely have multiple sins to confess” John _almost_ purred as his attention was lured over to her photo gallery, Eva knew she didn’t have any raunchy photos of herself, there were easily more photos of her and her best friend, a little corgi husky hybrid, Luca, she had found at an adoption centre after she had returned after being deployed for a scant 11 months.  
“I have to collect her, the whole quarantine period your pet has to endure, when it arrives in a new country” Eva hissed as she was pulled over at Jacob’s demand, she sensed he was a dog person and really wanted to see photos of Luca. The woman let her mind wander as the men would continue searching for clues about her, she knew she had a photo somewhere from her childhood, a photo of her and her brothers, the very ones who held her captive now.  
_If only they knew._  
Eva found herself being walked back to the church, she hadn’t talked much, only answering when she deemed it necessary. John was still scrolling through her phone - only after adding himself and his brothers as contacts - she could see him furrow his brow in confusion, peering over at her and back at the phone, “Jacob, Joseph…you might want to see this.”  
Eva sat on the gravelly ground, watching the brothers mumble to each other about their find on her phone when it hit her.  
_They knew._

“You said your name was Eva?” Joseph crouched in front of her, eyeing her over carefully, his gaze lingered on her tattoos, trying to piece her story together.  
“Your name is Joseph Seed, the middle sibling of the Seed family” She replied as if she was discussing family life with a child,  
“We found your adoption forms online” John would hover the image in front of her, “Do you declare that this is you?”  
“I was adopted twice, yes…”  
The men all shared a knowing glance, they had all been adopted out of their family at a young age, that skit hadn’t lasted long, after the abuse of Joseph, John and herself, Jacob had enough of seeing his siblings in pain and gathered them before burning that family alive.  
“Do you have any siblings?” Joseph cocked his head slightly, his gaze darting up to Jacob and John,  
“I _had_ three brothers” Eva shrugged, “Surely they would’ve responded to my letters.”  
“Evie…” Jacob would hum quietly, it was a name no one but _them_ called her,  
“…Surprise…This is the best homecoming party I’ve ever had” She grinned mockingly; this was not the reunion she wanted, at the very least there could’ve been fewer bruises on her.

Eva stretched as she pulled herself out of her car, John had driven her to some ranch, Joseph and Jacob had taken the car they had turned up in. She peered around the place, noting areas of importance, a runway and airplane hanger, a small boat house down the hill, stuffed taxidermied animals… Not quite to her taste.  
“Quaint…” She murmured, staring clear of the bearskin rug, feeling very much out of place.  
“Please have a seat, dear sister” Joseph would gesture to the couch, Eva’s gaze hovered for a moment, she felt like she had returned from a long holiday and the overwhelming feelings of the painful memories that were left behind had hit her.  
“You surely have… changed” She hummed softly, gesturing to the words scarred into Joseph’s skin and the tattoos that had been deliberately left unscathed, he turned to face her, those eyes - _the color of the ocean after a storm -_ seemed to stare directly into her soul.  
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” He mused gently cupping his younger sisters face, “What is your sin, Eva?”  
She frowned, contemplating every moment that she could consider a sin, “Well… I think we all sin but I wouldn’t say that they represented who I am.”  
She hissed in pain as Joseph’s fist collided with her jaw, his fingers quickly dug into her biceps, his gaze darkening as he leaned in close. _Here comes the storm._  
“We all have _sin_ Eva” His voice harsh as he searched for any sign of her deadly misdemeanor, “We all must atone for our wrongdoings, or else you will never be forgiven by Him and cannot march to _Eden’s Gate."_  
Eva used her smaller build to her advantage to kick Joseph away before scurrying around him to grab her jacket and the weapons, she was confused by _his_ sudden outburst and that pissed her off.  
“You know, Joseph, I didn’t _have_ to spend my hard-earned money to travel to this shithole of a valley to rekindle with my ‘long lost’ family” She hissed, glaring at her older brothers, “I didn’t spend twenty odd hours and a stopover in the air to get this sort of bullshit, I would’ve gone back to _her_ if that's what I wanted.” They all knew who Eva was talking about - their mother - the only time they had ever heard from her was when she needed money or needed to be bailed out, of course, the siblings had never actually helped the drunk old coot - hell, only God himself knew what gutter she lived in.  
As quickly as Eva had appeared in their lives, she had left, speeding off back towards Falls End, if they wanted to follow her, she would go out her way to disappear - she had done it before and she could do it again.

  
A bruise had begun to form where Joseph had hit her, red finger marks had begun dotting her biceps as she stalked into Spread Eagle, ordering the most expensive pint of beer she could. Mary May hummed sadly, gently touching the bruises;  
“You came in contact with those sonuvabitch cultists...” Her gaze dropped to the credit card Eva slid across the bar, “Oh you like playing with fire, hun?”  
“I merely _borrowed_ the Seeds money, if they want it back they can come to me” Eva hummed contently, of course, her brothers hadn’t seen her take it, she had once managed to slip the cell keys off a guard after she had been caught trespassing. Her eyes darted around the place, catching a few of the locals she had met, Nick Rye, Jerome Jeffries, Grace Armstrong,  
“There’s a small party going on over at 8-Bit Pizza” Grace patted Eva’s back gently “You deserve drinks and pizza after dealing with _them_."  
  
Eva smiled contently as she sat around a small campfire just behind the 8-Bit, For the few hours that they were at the small get together, she felt as though was welcomed and wanted by the group of people she had met.   
Music hummed from a small portable stereo somewhere hidden amongst the empty booze bottles and the greasy pizza boxes. A few peggies had strolled too close to the group, meeting their demises with arrows and sniper bullets to the head - Grace and Eva had a friendly competition, whoever got the least headshots had to pay for the next round of pizzas and beers, they had been too closely matched before Eva had scored the upper hand, shooting one square in the eye.  
“Darlin’, you remind me of someone” Adelaide wrapped an arm around Eva’s shoulder as the night slowly eased, “What’s the cute lawyer in Holland Valley?” Alcohol was a good way to block memories.  
“Joe…Jak…No no……John Seed” Nick would slur, counting the Seed brothers off his hand, there was no way that man was driving anytime soon.  
“Yeah...John Seed, you look like if he and Jacob merged into one and became female” Adelaide chuckled, as the group slowly began to agree.  
“You look almost like John, just with a red tinge in your hair and greener eyes” Mary May peered closer at Eva, who had been too busy quietly shooting glances in the direction of the master huntress, Jess Black.  
“You could pass as their sister!” Nick loudly agreed, laughing at the thought,  
“Or maybe I _am_ …”


	3. Chapter 3

Eva laughed as she ruffled Luca’s ears, it had been just over a week since her run-in with her brothers, her phone had been blown up with calls and messages - only ever from Jacob and John. She had moved into a spare room at Nick Rye’s house, courtesy of Kim - under the terms that Kim got to play with the pup. It had been a crazy week, word had been quiet since she had let slip about her siblings, a few questions had been shot her way about them and how had she skipped the insanity trait her siblings all had. Her phone rang again, pulling Eva from her thoughts, sighing to herself she tapped speakerphone,  
“What are you doing up by the lumber mill, Evie?” The gravelly tone of Jacob caused her to freeze for a moment,  
“I was doing whatever I wanted too, _Jake_ ” She knew he hated being called that, she scratched Luca’s belly as she pulled into an isolated spot.  
“You know, you shouldn't travel alone, you never know what dangers lurk in the woods” There it was, Jacob being the father figure again. Their father had been a two-bit drunkard, who only knew how to abuse his children, easily a lot better than the short-lived Langley family. The memories of their constant abuse of John and herself made her shudder, she was happy to see them burn with their rusty old farmhouse.  
“You mean you’re sasquatch” Eva hummed as she fired back at her brother as he hummed some tune to himself, “Or are you telling me that you’ve met God himself and you want to spread his good word?”  
_Silence._  
She knew how easy it was to press her brothers' buttons, most of her childhood was spent over Jacob or Joseph’s knee after she had fallen out of line. She _almost_ wished they could be as innocent as they had been back then, back before the _wars_ Jacob and herself had endured.  
“Evie…You haven’t fallen into the river now have you?” The rough voiced hummed her back into reality, a soft bark beside her caused her to scratch the little companion gently,  
“Whose the best boy in the world” Eva cooed, “It’s certainly not Uncle Jakey, he’s not brought you any treaties.”  
“You know, you’re too easy to track” The rumbly voice of scarred man seemed closer than before, much to Eva’s distaste. Before she got to reply, the passenger door swung open and he slipped in,  
“Your car is a piece of shit.”  
Jacob ordered his sister to drive him around, as he pointed out areas of her interest and areas to avoid.  
“You know, I’m just pissed at you because Luca’s a little whore” Eva frowned, as her little pup was panting happily as Jacob gave her all the attention,  
“What can I say, I have a tenancy to make animals come running” He chuckled, patting his little sisters head as if she was a pup.  His gaze darkened slightly as his phone buzzed in his pocket, _forcing_ him to remember his mission.  
“Joseph wishes to talk to you…” Jacob began as his sister’s expression changed rapidly, she scoffed as she pulled over near the old veterans hospital,  
“If you came after me to tell me that, fuck you too Jacob” Eva shook her head, “We always had the rule that if we had any qualms with each other we discussed it as a _family.”_  
“Things change Eva, Joseph is... A busy man and we can all talk after the sermon tonight” Jacob slipped a map of the county out of his pocket, “It finishes at 9 pm, I’ve marked it for you. I would recommend waiting in the shadows…”  
Eva watched as he pulled himself out of the vehicle, his gaze lingered, watching the young woman closely. She struggled to hide her gasp as he placed a small box and envelope on the seat he was just on, the same one she had sent to him after she had returned from being deployed.  
“They say war changes you, Eva, you’re still the same kid I remember you as but I can _see_ that you have your own nightmares.”

Eva sat with her back against a tall pine, gazing at the lake as the soft tune of another hymn echoed from a tiny church, her gloved hands examined the sniper Grace Armstrong had kindly given her as a welcome gift.  
“We saw a woman watching the church” A gruff voice grumbled from the road, causing Eva to shuffle around, peering as a small group of men talked amongst each other, peering up at the treeline.  
“She must be working for the resistance! She wants to kill the Father!”  
Eva slipped further into the forest, avoiding any fallen twigs or loose ground that would give away her location, behind her she heard the sounds of men running;  
‘ _Obviously not the most combat savvy bunch_ ’ Eva thought as she pressed her back against a large rock, looking rapidly for the next covered path to take.  
“Who do we take her too if the sermon finishes? We aren’t allowed to see the Father until the next homily” The gruff voices said from above her, Eva frowned, it was too dangerous for her to make her move.  
‘ _If I take a swim, I could loop back towards the church…Hopefully, his highness has finished preaching to his sheep_ ’  Eva’s fingers curled around a small rock, hurling it towards a cluster of trees and bushes.  
“She’s over there!” The heavy footsteps rushed in the direction of the noise, giving Eva the chance to bound out of her hiding spot,  
“She was beneath you!” Another voice suddenly hollered, “Call our brothers and sisters! We will catch the sinner!”  
  
Eva pressed her back against the door of a small hut she had found deep in the forest, shaky fingers redialed the last person who had contacted her;  
“Well, you certainly fucked up” John’s voice hummed contently, “Where are you, Evie?”  
Her chest heaved as her legs trembled, “Fuck John… I don’t… I had to swim… It’s cold…”  
“Eva” His voice was stern, she could hear Jacob and Joseph talking in the background, “Where are you?”  
“Whitetail Ranger station… I think I…” Eva shivered, struggling to keep warm from her tedious swim across the lake. She heard a struggle as someone had grabbed John’s phone from him, words were exchanged and Eva chuckled to herself.   
“Eva, did you see the road?”  
“ _Joseph_ , if I saw the road, I would be standing in the middle of it ready for you to run me down” Eva frowned, still annoyed at her brother for bruising her,  
“Eva Seed, I will discipline you. You are still my baby sister and if you are to act like a child I will treat you like one” Joseph tutted sadly,   
“I’ll head back towards the ranger station…” Her voice quivered from her soaking clothes.  
  
Eva pulled her saturated auburn hair into a loose braid as she pried her wet clothes off herself, she had started a small fire inside of the ranger station and hoped she could at least begin to dry her outerwear before her brothers had arrived. She hummed a small tune to herself as she scoured the small kitchenette for snacks and a warm drink;  
“Would you like me to make you a hot cocoa or something?” She snipped, glancing over her shoulder as her three siblings watched her closely.  
“Evie dear, you seem to be… lacking attire…” Joseph’s gaze darted over to her damp shirt and pants,  
“Are you… offended by my scars and tattoos Joey” She scoffed, as Jacob forced his jacket onto her,  
“You can at least try to be modest, Eva” Jacob scolded, forcing her to sit beside the small fire, “You are too reckless, do you have any idea what would've happened if you got caught by the peggies.”  
Joseph gently touched her shoulder, his gaze lingered on her sadly, “Why do you _despise_ us sister?”   
Eva frowned in response, memories flashed to every moment they had missed in her life, she despised them for never coming to her aid when she needed it. They had found each other and left her struggling to scour to find her _family._ No one had ever helped her with her suffering, she blamed the only people who had promised to be there for her.   
  
_They hadn’t been there when she went to her prom..._  
_They hadn’t been there when she had graduated..._  
_They hadn't been there when she deployed..._  
_They hadn’t been there when her squadron was shot at point-blank range..._  
_They hadn’t been there when she crawled her way 150 miles to the nearest town - right after seeing her comrades being killed - with a broken leg, fractured wrist and stab wounds..._  
  
“ _You weren’t there…_ ”Her voice cracked, images flashed before her, the blood, screams, and pain were all real. Her body shivered, hot tears burned her eyes as cries of torment escaped from her throat.


	4. Chapter 4

Jacob rubbed Eva’s arm gently, Joseph had gotten her clothes dried and managed to pull them back onto the shivering wreck that was his sister. The absence of voice had made their sisters suffering diminish quicker. They all had read about the squadron that had been taken out swiftly and silently, something no one had ever expected, Eva’s name had never been mentioned in the articles. Jacob knew his sister's pain greatly, he too suffered nightmares from when he was deployed;  
“You probably all think I’m... Some crazy fucker” Her voice cracked, heavy with sleep and crying, John gently pressed a cup of hot tea into her shaky hands,  
“Take your time Evie, we’re here for you now.”  
She pulled herself off the ground, avoiding her brother’s glares of disapproval, Eva sighed to herself, only holding onto the steaming mug for heat,  
“We got your jacket and dog tags you sent us when you returned” Jacob hummed contently, remembering the pride he had for his sister when he opened the parcel. The brothers had all gushed about it for weeks, never knowing the full story of her deployment - _until now_.   
“I was following in your footsteps… You told me to be proud… not to be weak” Eva mumbled, stumbling in exhaustion as she glanced back at her brothers with tired eyes, “Can you drop me off at the Rye’s?”

Eva’s head rested on Joseph’s shoulder, she had barely gotten in the car before sleep hit her, softly mumbling as she curled up, he smiled softly as he continued to chat with his brothers.  
“We should at least call _Rye_ , I don’t want Eva to be cast out for being our sibling” Jacob hummed, as he drove them through the backroads of the county - they knew of the resistance militias who’d not hesitate to take them down. Joseph glanced towards his younger brother, legs propped up on the dashboard, fingers flicking through his sister's phone,  
“They care too much about her, they wouldn’t leave her in the dust” John quipped, blue eyes flicking back as Eva mumbled disappointingly as she met his gaze for a moment, her fingers tugged the warm material of his trench coat as she pulled her arms through the sleeves.  
“You wouldn’t mind if I keep it?” Eva mumbled sleepily as they pulled up near the Rye’s house, her gaze darted up to the man watching her from the porch - almost _intimated_.  
“I do want it back, but I’ll let you wear it until next time” John hummed as he lifted her out of the back seat, they watched as Jacob approached Nick to handover Eva’s guns and phone,  
“As long as you keep her safe, we won’t send anyone after you and your… Fall’s End friends."  
_A firm handshake between the two sealed the agreement._

Eva sighed spiritlessly, her fingers traced the small airplane patterns on the coat that lay on her bed, around her neck the soft clink of metal caused Luca scramble up and nestle contently on John’s coat.  
“It’s been six weeks since those asses talked to me, Luca, why must I have the worst family?” Luca barked a happy response, pawing at the dog tags that she took ownership of, “Yes baby girl, they are from the scary mountain man.”  
“You should consider going for a walk” Eva’s gaze trailed up to Huntress, “Fuck them for leaving you in the dark, ever since the sheriff and his posse rolled in, everything turned to shit.” Jess wasted no time before pulling the woman up, “Let’s go kill us some peggies!”  
  
They moved swiftly through the forests, avoiding water and roads at all costs, Jess led the way towards Elk Jaw Lodge,  
“You know, no one has actually seen your brothers since the cops rolled in” The hooded woman fired flaming arrows into clusters of cultists, “Have they… talked to you at least?”  
“The odd phone call here and there, that’s all” Eva frowned, she had missed spending times with her brothers, “I was thinking about heading back…” Jess stifled a chuckle, firing a few more well-aimed shots at the last remaining peggies,  
“You wouldn’t want to leave yet, you haven’t even seen them do the Kumbaya shit” Her teal gaze lingered too long on her partner, “The peggies have songs they sing about your brothers, I’m pretty sure they have some for Faith too.”  
“Whose Faith?” Eva followed Jess into the lodge, helping her pick the locks to each of the cabins, firing arrows at any stray peggies that had scattered.  
“Crazy bliss lady?” Jess looked over towards the tattooed girl, “They haven’t introduced you to their sister?” Eva merely shook her head in reply, not too fussed about any woman in her brother's lives, they were all grown men and they were welcome to fool around with whomever they pleased.  
  
“I thought you were gonna go within a week of arriving” Jess laughed, cracking open a second bottle of beer from a backpack that was stocked basic survival gear and a few bottles of alcohol,  
“I still think about it, I mean… I found them but I haven’t” Eva let one of her inked legs hang over the edge of the small jetty, her gaze flickered onto Jess, who sat opposite her watching the road carefully.  
“Most men around here are assholes” The huntress tipped her bottle towards her partner, “Joseph is King asshole, John and Jacob are sneaky assholes and then you have Nick, the only one who's not an asshole.” Eva stifled a laugh with a swig of her warming beer as Jess smirked, nudging the other woman with her boot, “You know, you’re not as bad as them. You can bring their arrogance down… C’mon Johnny-boy is finishing his preaching shit, let’s go give ‘em hell.”  
The two woman stalked around the perimeter of the Lamb of God church, listening as the peggies sung the last remaining chorus of Amazing Grace,  
“The big guns must be here…” Jess’s nonchalant voice caused Eva to notice the car she had seen when she had met her brothers here many moons ago.  
“As long as I get to stab someone, I’m happy” She hummed in response, twirling a small hunting knife in her fingers. Soft footsteps crunched on leaves as someone crouched through the bushes near them, Eva swiftly swapped knife for the compound bow Jess had lent her,  
“I invited the Dep to come, hope you don’t mind” Jess soothed, touching her inked friend gently as she shot a weak smile towards the newcomer, “Dep, this is Eva Seed, the normal one from the insane family.” Dep laughed quietly at the thought of the Seed family being normal,  
“Still getting used to being the hunted… Are we taking _them_ out _?”_  
“We are not taking my brothers out, their underlings are fine” Eva quipped, “My brothers are my responsibility, no one touches them, but me.”  
  
_Come brothers and come sisters, come weary and come strong_  
  
The mellifluous harmonic tune flooded the ears of the three outsiders as the carpark began to flood with the peggies, all singing together happily. Jess shot a sly wink at Eva as the four leaders watched from near the doors, looking too pleased with themselves. 

_Come meet the man who reaps the land, on which we walk upon  
The time has come for judgment, but we ain't done nothin' wrong Join us all, we all can sing along_  
  
Oh _John! Bold and brave!_  
 _He's findin' us a family, he's teachin' us the faith_  
Oh _John! Keep us safe!_  
 _He's gonna march us right through Eden's Gate Oh Lord!_  
 _He's gonna march us right through Eden's Gate_  
  
“I’m going to break in and steal one of their books” Eva suppressed her chuckle, “I'm intrigued by what's in them...Plus that would _really_ piss of Joey.” Jess smirked as Dep retrieved the bow from their mischievous ally, “If you see any stray peggies, kill them. I’ll slip out the side door.”  
Eva crept along the flower beds, watching like a hawk as she neared the window. She quickly peered around the empty hall, noticing that the Seed family were still near the door, talking amongst themselves softly as their worshippers began to sing another hymn. Eva slipped inside, flinching as her bare legs grazed against the rough wood of the windowsill.  
_’Why did I choose to wear shorts’_ She mentally cursed as she slipped softly around the pews, her gaze flicking between her target and the entrance. Eva’s fingers wrapped around the podium, as she noticed her red-haired brother look back as she hurriedly ducked out of view. She peeked around the edge of the small wooden furnishings, noticing that John and Jacob were sharing a quiet word. Quickly, Eva slipped the book off its perch. a soft sigh of relief escaped her lips as the remaining cult trucks drove off, leaving just her brother's personal vehicle. She smirked to herself, as she pulled herself out of her hiding spot,  
“I have come to confess…” She held up Joseph’s Bible with a wink, “My brothers are the absolute worst.”  
“Eva Raine Seed” Joseph snarled, already aiming his AR-C Assault Rifle at his sister, “If you don’t return it, I will shoot.”  
“Go on” Eva hummed, slyly pressing the beloved book into Johns' chest, stalking around, watching the family like a wolf watching its prey, “So this is Faith, hmm? Forgot your biological sibling and got a cute girl in return, I like it.”  
Jacob closed the gap between his little sister and his new family, glaring at the veteran darkly,  
“Eva, go home. You’ve fucked up enough recently”  
“I’ve fucked up Jacob? Please enlighten me on how I’ve done just that” Eva hissed, defensively grabbing her small blade  
“Liberating outposts, killing the members of the church…” He gestured to her hidden friends in the forest, “Doing shit like _this_ ….”  
Eva gasped, her eyes narrowed as she readied herself to shoot back,  
“No one asked for you to come here Eva” John interrupted, “You came here on your own accord to find us…Have you ever thought we didn’t _want_ you too?”  
“Maybe it’s best if you went _home_ , Eva” Joseph frowned, watching his sisters expression turn into a look of betrayal,  
“Sure…” Her raspy voice faint as she dropped the knife before she turned her back on the last seven weeks she had spent in Montana.  
  
_All for nothing._


	5. Chapter 5

Eva hurridly packed her belongings the minute she arrived back at the Rye’s house, she hadn’t spoken a word to anyone. The final words he had spoken to her vividly echoed in her head;  
_Maybe it’s best if you went home, Eva.  
_ “Why was I so stupid coming here?” She glanced at the two figures in the doorway, watching her sadly;  
“You weren’t stupid hun” Mary spoke up first, as she shifted into the room to help pack, “You are lucky you don’t have much stuff…”  
“You’ll have to come back and visit when the baby is born” Kim piped up, “I’ll give _them hell_ every time I see them.”  
Eva chuckled hoarsely, she was struggling not to hurt - hell she barely even knew who her brothers were. She barely knew anything of their past endeavors before the Eden’s Gate shit had reared its ugly head,  
“I’ll be back…” Her fingers brushed Jacob’s jacket sadly, “But I don’t think I’ll ever be _their_ family… I’ve been gone too long, it’s not something that’ll ever be mended. Plus Faith is their new sister…” A scoff was all Mary and Kim needed to prove that Eva was a bit envious of the fourth herald. 

Eva pulled her two suitcases into the backseat of her car, slipping Luca in her crate in beside them safely. Only a small group of items remained; the items she had borrowed from her brothers and photos of them from when they had been children. Eva had made a quick stop to the general store in Falls End, to buy Kim and Nick a big box of chocolates and a gift box. Carefully folding in John’s trench coat and Jacob’s jacket, Eva sighed, her mission had been a failure and she didn’t want to leave. Adding the dog tags and her collection of Seed family photos to the mix, she penned a small note;  
  
_Dear Jacob, Joseph, and John Seed,_  
_You were my family, my brothers_  
 _The reason I kept fighting my whole life,_  
 _And now I’ve lost you - I am sorry._  
 _I shouldn't have barged into your lives._  
 _I will be gone by the time this reaches you._  
 _I love you, but forget that I ever existed._  
 _Goodbye._  
 _Eva Raine ~~Seed~~ Sable_

  
After checking in her luggage, Eva carried the wrapped parcel to the nearest post box, sighing softly, she posted the box - the last memories she had held onto of them. She had no debts to them any longer -  
_The Seed brothers were going to be a distant memory.  
_  
The familiar air of her home, made Eva crack a weak smile -  
_She hated being home, she felt lost.  
_ “I’m sorry it didn’t work out for us Luca” Eva sang softly, gently opening up the dog crate to let her pup stretch its tiny legs before she started the long drive back to her house, “You and I, we’re going to prove that we don’t need any stupid Eden’s Gate shit.”  
  
The roads all looked familiar yet felt strange, Eva hurt with the loss of the men she had spent years to find. Her gut burnt with the same fire that fuelled her nightmares, nothing had changed in the twenty-four years of her search. Her gaze flickered onto her phone as it hummed with a call, she smiled weakly at the name as she answered it;  
“Hey, hun” Mary May hummed gently, “You got there alright?”  
“Yeah, I did, thanks…” Eva chuckled as Luca barked a happy greeting,  
“The youngest one came in before, looking for you…” The blonde barwoman’s voice lowered drastically, “He’s still in here…waiting for answers.”  
“Tell him to not get his dick in a twist” Eva quipped, as she pulled into the small village she lived in, “Jeez… I go for nearly two months and nothing seems to change…Everything feels different…”  
“Sometimes you need a good kick up the ass before you realize how much this change around you.”  
“And being in Hope County gave me that kick… I’ll definitely be back to see you all” Eva smiled as the two woman farewelled each other. Eva hummed as she pulled down a gravelly drive, the light grey paint of her three bedroomed house stood hidden amongst the trees,  
_“I’m home…”  
  
  
_ John paced agitatedly around the ranch house, the image of Eva’s betrayed look plastered in his head. They had all been stressed out as the Whitetail Militia had taken out two outposts and six cargo trucks, Eva had merely pushed them over the edge. It had been two weeks since the confrontation had happened, Jacob had been down in Holland Valley every night since that fateful day.  
“You have a package” The gruff voice of his oldest brother caused John to flinch,  
“Sure it’s not a bomb?” The Baptist eyed it carefully as he gave it a small shake, “Sounds too soft…”  
“If you aren’t going to open it…” Jacob held his blade up, noticing John had taken ownership of the one Eva had left behind,  
“You still wear _her_ dog tags, I felt it was important that I carried something of hers too…” John shrugged as the two brothers began to open the parcel, “Oh…”  
  
“Is there something wrong, brothers?” Joseph’s voice disturbed the saddened silence, as John and Jacob glanced at the new voice,  
“Eva’s gone” John would frown, “She’s removed herself from our family because of the situation.” The middle sibling glanced over the photos and belongings in the box, before he touched the note tenderly,  
“If that is what she wishes, then we will obey that…”  
“Enough bullshit Joseph” Jacob hissed, his fist whacking the table in annoyance, “We pushed Eva away and she has left. Remember those countless nights we spent _trying_ to find her - always drawing a blank?”  
“She is always going have our blood run through her veins” John added, “She will always be family…”  
  
  
Eva struggled to pick up where her life had been paused, the sleepless nights had crept in and the stress at her work had piled up. In between her constant phone calls with her old friends in Hope County and the multiple emails coming from both the P.E.G and anonymous people - Whom she figured were John - She had struggled to even put the time in for herself.  
“I could really use another vacation, Luca… what about you, sweetie?” Eva gently scratched the pup’s ears as she danced around between feeding her and cooking a dinner for herself, “You and I could go treasure hunting at those old cathedrals in Scotland, become rich and rub it into King Joseph the Asshole’s face…” The soft yapping of Luca caused Eva attention to be pulled away from her cooked meal as a firm knock on her door made her frown in confusion.  
  
  
Mary May hummed a tune absentmindedly to herself as two of the heralds entered her empty bar, it was nearing 1 in the morning and the deal between Nick Rye and Jacob Seed still stood. She gave John and Jacob a small wave as the phone began to ring,  
“Spread Eagle, this is Mary May” The blonde woman spoke contently as she heard a tired voice on the other end,  
“Mary…” The voice murmured forlornly, “Mary…I need you here…”  
“Eva darling? What’s wrong?” Mary pulled the phone closer to the Seed brothers as they leaned in, concerned,  
“My…parents” Eva’s voice cracked, a collection of weak cries came from her, “They were killed… I don’t know what to do…a car hit them… they were walking…”  
“Eva, I’m so sorry hun…”  
“I don’t have anyone left anymore, Mary… _I lost them all_ ”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all of you beautiful people, I would love to hear some of your ideas and thoughts :)
> 
> Warning for the last paragraph - self-harming triggers

Mary sighed heavily as she poured three pints of beers, John and Jacob had begun to gather at the Spread Eagle every night since Eva had left. The blonde barmaid pulled a sit up to the booth the heralds had rested in,  
“We’re going to support her, right?” Mary frowned as Jacob demolished the beverage in front of him,  
“I’ll buy the three of us tickets” John would hum, “You have a passport Fairgrave?”  
“What about…Joseph? Surely he’d feel some sympathy for our sister” Jacob stretched, as Mary tapped the table,  
“He already is on his way…” John sighed disapproving his older brothers appearance, “We can…ask him whether he wishes to be respectful enough to pay his condolences to Eva’s family."  
Mary looked towards the brothers with disgust, ”As long as he doesn’t preach his bullshit to me…“  
  
Jerome Jefferies sat beside Mary as they discussed their next motives with the Seed siblings, the funeral for Eva’s parents was happening in a week and the barmaid had made it her personal goal to get there on time for their friend.  
”I can pay for our tickets and our accommodation“ John hummed, having already found the town Eva was living in, ”There is a small motel near _her…_ There are bars and the church is nearby“ He pulled up a map on his laptop, having circled areas of interest.  
”You’ve done your research“ Jerome chuckled, ”What if Eva doesn’t forgive you?“  
”She doesn’t need too“ The youngest Seed brother frowned as an email flashed on his screen, ”We arrive the day before the funeral and we could only book for that night - As long as you can sway Eva into offering a place for us to all reside.“  
Faith frowned, ”I don’t think your sister would appreciate it if I turned up, she seemed almost hostile,  
“She’s had it rough” John patted Faith’s hand gently, “Once we get through to her, she will ease up.”

  
The flight across the world had been tedious and tiring the group, the constant idea of how Eva was going to react to seeing them - haunted them. It had barely been a few weeks since they had seen her, grinning as she had enjoyed her time in Hope County. Eva had been so pure, so content… And now they watched her from across the bar. They had checked into their motel only hours ago and had gone out drinking;  
”She hasn’t slept properly in five days“ Jacob watched his sister rub her arm sleepily, dark circles made her look older than she was. Her unkempt hair hid her face, tear-stained cheeks - the empty look in her once bright forest-shaded eyes. Eva looked so lost, like a fawn whose mother had been killed. The group watched as she peered at her unfinished beer, mumbling something to a barman as she readied herself to leave. Mary readied herself to embrace the woman as Jacob touched the blonde woman’s arm,  
”Eva would go into shock… We’ll see her tomorrow.“

Eva shuffled out of the bar, she felt a heavy burden on her shoulders. Crumbled paper had torn where her tears had marked it, no words had been streaked - nothing had been marked down. Her legs ached for her to run, her gut told her to listen. To run until she was home, back in the loving embrace of _them - u_ _ntil she was home_. Back on the ranch with her friends - her family. She struggled to hold back a weak whimper as the thoughts flooded her memory, Eva didn’t want to return to church tomorrow - there was no escape from her inevitable.  
_After tomorrow - I can run… Luca and I… We will go as far as I can take us…  
  
  
_ She certainly had a different aura around her, black blazer, sleeves rolled up showing her tattoos. Auburn hair pulled into a messy side braid, no more tears and dark circles under her eyes. _This Eva was different.  
_ She was in the foyer of the church greeting people with a somber smile, behind her a small mountain of bunches of flowers were growing steadily. With each new pile added, Eva struggled not to roll her eyes - thanking the people with her dearest condolences.  
”There’s a group of people watching you deary“ An old acquaintance of her adopted mother hummed gently, ”The men are quite the lookers, maybe you’ll find yourself a husband.“  
Eva chuckled bitterly, ”I’m not looking for romance right now, seeing as though I have to organize and sell _their house“_ She growled softly causing the old friend to totter off inside. The whole process had overwhelmed her and she had enough of the people pestering her,  
”She scrubs up nicely“ John would hum, his gaze flicking over his sister gently, she hadn't noticed them at all,  
”We will talk to her after… she looks preoccupied“ Joseph lead the posse through a large group of people as they took position near the back of the hall.  
  
Eva’s mind wandered as the droning tone of the celebrant never seemed to stop, a collection of images played on a repetitive loop of her late parents. Behind her the soft sobbing caused her to frown slightly - they were her family and yet she felt…  
_Empty…_  
 _Alone…_  
 _Unwanted…_

“There are so many words and thoughts that have rushed through my head recently… I spent the last five days trying to write some sort of eulogy and instead, I couldn't find the words to say…There was so much they wanted for me and they were there when I needed them to be. The restless nights I spent after the war, the late evening phone calls they used to do…Hell… our midnight runs down to get ice cream and burgers…” Eva froze, her eyes wandered the room, watching people carefully. Her gaze slowly flickered onto the group in the back row, a small nod of encouragement from _them_ was all she needed to continue. Sighing deeply, she shot a weak smile at them,  
“I guess… You never think about the end until it is too late, the words you never got to say… the words you _regret…_ There is only so much time in the world and you’ll never know when your time is up… They taught me everything I needed to know and more. I’ll miss those moments with you more than anything…”

Joseph watched as Eva took her place in the front pews, she looked so alone with her leg crossed over the other, shoulders hunched slightly. He could feel her pain and struggle radiating off her, like a moth to a flame. She was good with her facade and the Seed brothers could see right through it.  
“Keep an eye on her” John murmured to the group quietly, “I think she’s fallen deeper into the lands of the depressed.”

Eva weaved between people as she struggled to get herself a coffee and a small snack, arms constantly digging into her own as people reached out trying to talk with her. She hid her flustered expression well as yet another arm reached out, forcing Eva to stop in her tracks, her gaze lingered on the diminishing table of foods and drinks.  
“Maybe if you leave the poor woman alone, she could finally catch a break” Jacob scolded, gaining the attention of the hall as he stalked over, one arm shielding his little sister protectively. He had seen her struggle to even get out of the church and had decided that he wasn’t going to let his sister suffer under the inconsideration of others.  
“Go get yourself something Evie, I won’t leave you” He whispered to her, giving a small nod to his posse - who’d taken refuge in a hidden corner of the reception hall.

Eva nestled in beside Mary and John at the reception, a hot cup of coffee never too far out of her reach,  
“You did good” Jerome patted her leg gently, “You were brave standing up there…”  
“Well, five years of acting class paid off in the end” Eva chuckled as she looked at Mary, “You all didn’t have to come…Honestly, I wasn’t going to come…”  
“John paid for us and you look like you need cake” Mary winked,  
“You are all coming to mine for dinner tonight, I demand ice cream and cake is to be bought though…” Eva sighed contently as John’s thumb rubbed a sore spot on her shoulder,  
“We actually need a place to stay, we could only book the motel for a night” Joseph would hum, his gaze watching as his little sister shifted uncomfortably “Do you happen to have a spare room?”  
Eva thought for a moment, she hadn’t forgotten what her brothers had said to her in the church and she wasn’t sure if she really wanted them to be around, “Yeah, I have two spare bedrooms…One of you can take my bed.”  
_‘Fuck you too head. I didn’t want to say that… Well I mean they flew all the way from Montana to support me….’_  
“Thank you, Eva…” Faith spoke up, cautiously watching the older woman, “I can bake you some cookies if you would like…”  
Eva watched Faith with a small smile tugging on the corner of her lips, “You came here to support me and that was kind enough… I should get going, have to feed Luca, did you need a ride back to mine?”  
“We need to get our supplies first. Our bags are still at the motel, so we can probably be around in two hours?” John hummed, “Any sort of cake and ice cream you demand?”  
“Preferably coffee or mint chocolate ice cream…and hmm…Surprise me with the cake” Eva nodded, “Just in case I’m out walking Luca, let yourself in” She handed a spare key to Jerome, as she bid them farewell.

  
“She’s good at hiding her emotions” Jerome frowned as the Hope County group began to pack their bags into the back of their car,  
“She was probably taught not to show them” Mary defended, “We can ask her when we get to hers… or maybe she’ll open up…”  
“I think she’s afraid” Jacob handed the two desserts Eva had requested to Joseph to hold,  
John glanced at his older brother warily, as they stepped into the car, “Afraid of what? Us?”  
“No, not us. She’s afraid of what’s going to happen to her - she thinks she’s alone in this world and has beaten it into her head that she’ll always be alone” Jerome frowned “You saw how she was at the bar last night - compared to today she was a whole different person.”  
“Just how I was after the war” Jacob remembered when he had returned - how he had been sent to a veterans hospital to recover, before being cast out and becoming homeless, “I had help…”  
“She never got that help according to her medical files” John shrugged, as they pulled into the gravelly drive of Eva’s property.

The group managed to unlock the door, the wafting scent of beef stroganoff lured the group further into the small house. It was cozy, well lived in - few photos of Eva and Luca framed the walls. A sniper was locked in a small cabinet, it hadn’t been touched since she had put it in there.  
“Evie? You home?” Joseph called, he spied Luca curled on a small dog bed sleeping contently, the group dropped their bags, searching the entirety of the first floor. Jacob’s gaze trailed up to the second floor,  
“Wait here… I’ll see if she’s upstairs” He instructed, as he stalked to the bedrooms. The three doors to the bedrooms were wide open, he searched each room, hearing a weak noise from the ensuite in the master bedroom.  
“Eva?” The red-haired soldier gently knocked on the locked door, he could hear her shift her weight heavily against it, “Eva open the door?”  
“… _Can’t”  
_ A weak response, her voice was hoarse.  
“Eva, open the door - _now_ ” Jacob growled, shoving his weight against the wood, “I will break it down if you don’t.”  
A small click as the lock released, Eva scrambled to the back of the room, keeping her back to the door. Jacob stalked in, _a wolf hunting his fawn,_ his fingers wrapping around his torso as Eva trembled and sobbed,  
“I’m sorry…” Her voice cracked as she struggled to hide, Jacob’s gaze flickered to the small blooded knife in her hand.  
“Let me see it, Evie” He gave her no time to move as he batted away the bloodied mess she had carved into her, a hiss beneath his breath was all she had to hear, “Could we have a medkit up here?”  
“I’m so sorry…” She sobbed, “ _I can’t do it anymore…”_


	7. Chapter 7

 

"You don’t understand, you always had each other - I had no one. When I returned from the war I wasn’t _allowed_ to check into a veterans clinic” Eva’s voice cracked as she struggled against the hands holding her down. She had been carried - forcefully - into the dining room where John had begun to clean her fresh cuts.   
“Do you think we flew all this way because we had to?” Joseph spoke, his harsh tone made Eva look at the ground, like a puppy being told off, “You are our sister, our friend, and we came here for you.”  
Eva struggled as John began to slip a needle through her torn skin, stitching the wounds she had created, Jerome, Faith, and Mary frowned as they watched the brothers try to fix their broken sister.   
“You have no idea how weak I am” She began to writhe, hands becoming rougher as they pinned her down,  
“If you were weak Eva, I would’ve killed you back at that church when we first met” Jacob growled, his arm resting on her throat - just applying enough pressure for Eva to stop struggling. He could feel the coolness of her tears as they pooled onto his arm as John carefully mended the wound together. It was not as bad as they had first imagined, one long winding wound up the inner of her forearm with four smaller diagonal cuts across it - harder to stitch up, which had been her motive.  
  
“Eva…” Mary spoke up as a bandage was firmly tightened onto distressed woman’s forearm,  
“No… I don’t need sympathy” Eva began before the Baptist interjected,   
“Get off your fucking high horse, Eva. You suffered a tremendous amount but now you are just being ridiculous. We should’ve been there for you but you were halfway across the world living your isolated life the way you wanted too - We spent years searching for you - Fuck, we even came here ourselves” John pushed her roughly - not enough for her to fall, just enough for the impact, “We lost sleep over you, girl and here you are willing to waste yourself away. Mary May and Jerome, they came here for you. We didn’t come over here to yell at you - we came here to help you get better.”  
Eva watched her brother in shock, her gaze danced around to the other blurred faces in the room. She had never had anyone tell her off in such a way that caused her to stop, her gaze dropped to her bandaged arm.  
“I’m sorry… Ever since I returned from the war I struggled with the reality which was life. I can’t even keep my meds down…” Her gaze flickered onto the group in front of her, “Being in Hope County, made me feel different - I felt wanted. I slept full Nights, I had people to visit.” Her eyes shone like they had back in the valley, she was happier there than anywhere else. It was full of adventure - of life.  
“Then sell these houses and move with us, we can get you a small house” Faith spoke up,   
“I… need to sleep on it” Eva murmured, “Let’s at least try to have an enjoyable evening…”  
  
The group ended up laughing and having a good time, telling stories from their childhoods, photos had been brought out of an old box Eva had hidden away of when they had been younger.  
“Joseph always had a thing for tinted glasses” Faith grinned, as Eva showed off some photos of when the Seed siblings were children. _Jacob had his arm around John, while Eva held one of Joseph’s hands shyly, the middle brother had a cheap knock-off pair of tinted yellow sunglasses with him.  
_ “That was Eva’s present to Joseph on his 17th birthday, she would've been three” Jacob chuckled, patting his sisters back,   
“Was it hard having such a massive age difference?” Faith hummed,   
“Well, there’s almost 20 years between you and Jacob right?” Eva shrugged, “I think it was harder for John and me - our siblings were a whole decade and a half older and were finishing school - while we were just beginning.”  
  
“I’m sorry about before…” Eva disturbed the blissful silence, “I’ve never been good at saying what I mean…”  
“We understand” Jerome smiled gently, “We all have our escapes.”  
Eva nodded meekly, her gaze flicking across the scattered photographs, “I always was told to bottle my emotions…”  
Mary frowned, as the inked woman brushed her pups little head gently, “Who told you that?”  
“Everyone did… Hide your emotions from the rest of the world…I guess it’s why I became a problem to society. Breaking into abandon places and out of cells…” Eva sighed, “I wanted to make my brothers proud of who I am and instead they get a mess of a sister.”  
“You’re a good mess though” Faith hummed, her fingers happily twirling around amongst Eva’s hair, creating delicate little hairstyles, “Like the mess you make while baking”  
“Thanks for the compliment, Fatih” Eva chuckled, stretching as she yawned, “I think it’s all time we get some sleep.”   
  
Eva gestured to her two spare rooms, “Jerome, Mary, Faith and Joseph these are your shared rooms, John and Jacob can have my bed. I have a nice couch in my room that I’ll sleep on.”   
“Well, I’m only sleeping on your bed if you promise to wake us if you have a nightmare” John lifted Eva over his shoulder,   
“And if I don’t?” Eva teased,  
“I’ll send you to Jacob’s boot camp for three months, baptize you in the coldest springs and make you endure a year of Joseph’s speeches” John hummed, somehow shrugging out of his coat still holding his sister, “We’re here for you, Evie. No more sleepless nights.”  
Scuttling out of John’s grip, she flopped onto the small couch before pulling a throw blanket over her,  
“Goodnight brothers” Eva mumbled, snuggling into the blissful land of sleep,  
“’Night Evie” Jacob hummed, as John built a pillow wall between them.  
  
Soft mumbles turned distraught as Eva writhed in her sleep, John and Jacob had stayed up discussing plans for the Project when their sisters' distress had lured them to check on her. The blanket had bunched at her feet as she thrashed around in discomfort,   
“Eva? Hun, you’re okay” John scrambled to the end of the bed as Jacob pressed a calloused hand to her forehead,  
“Evie, c’mon” The soldier gently pried the blanket away from his sister as she jolted awake, sweating and panting, “Relax Eva, no one will hurt you.”  
She wrapped her arms around her brother as she blinked back to reality, her chest hurting as she slowly relaxed her breathing,   
“There you go…” John coaxed, gently helping her stand, “You’re doing good, why don’t you sleep next to us this time?”  
“Yeah… I would like that” Eva mumbled, holding onto John and Jacob’s hands as she slipped into the middle.   
“Hey, John… Weird question - how easy is it to forge a death certificate and sell two deceased estates?” Eva hummed sleepily, disturbing a chat about training some new Judges. John and Jacob’s gazes lingered onto the smaller form between them,  
“Why?… I mean I can do it quite easily, but do I trust the reasons why you want to?” His dark blue gaze flickered onto Jacob, a bit confused.  
“I don’t trust anyone who asks if they can forge a death certificate” Jacob added, resting on his shoulder to peer at his sister closely  
“Maybe a girl wants to start her new life… With some weird fuckers, she met” Eva snuggled under the blankets contently, “Small house on the mountains, overlooking the valley. Maybe some asshole brothers who'd steal her food all the time…” “Oh, you know a crazy woman who wants to move to Hope County?” John hummed, shooting her a sly grin as he pulled his sister close, “My rates are high, so you have to get working.”  
Eva battered John playfully, “I think I’d rather work for the better brother, Jakey. He’s not mean to me”  
“If you aren’t up before dawn for training, I’ll pour cold water on you” Jacob patted her leg as she yawned and shot him the middle finger, “You should get some sleep, Evie. _We’re here to protect you this time._ ”


	8. Chapter 8

Eva wiped down the booths in the Spread Eagle, she had been back for almost two months and her friends had surprised her with a small cottage on the hills between Holland Valley and the Whitetail Mountains. Mary had offered her a part-time job to keep her busy,  
“I still can’t believe your brother managed to have two houses sold under the idea they were both deceased estates” Mary May laughed as Eva finished her duties,  
“What can I say, he’s got a manner that makes him trustworthy” Eva winked, knowing how many times she had fallen for his tricks,  
“Well the Whitetail Militia and the Cougars are spreading their influences across the county, I know Jacob can hold his own but Faith and John…They don’t have the techniques for survival” The Rook added as Eva poured them another pint, “You need to watch your back too Eva, Eli has mentioned you a few times - they’ve seen you at the Veteran's Hospital.”   
Eva frowned, she had had a few run-ins with the militia, who had stalked her through the forests, “I’ve only killed in self-defense, maybe if this Eli guy would just talk to me we’d be able to sort out the differences.”  
“He won't talk - you’ll be dead if he catches you” The Deputy frowned, “I’ll do my best to protect you, but they think you are a Peggy"   
”He seems like a swell guy“ Eva shrugged as a strong arm wrapped around her waist,  
“Did you get yourself packed Evie, or do I need to take you home?” John grinned,  
“Packed? What are you two up to?” Mary nudged John away “No man handling my employee while she’s on the clock”  
“Camping trip” Eva shrugged, “I can’t believe they are making me get up at 6 am tomorrow, it’s insulting.”  
  
“Get up” A voice whispered into her ear as she pushed the culprit away, “I will drag you out of bed.”  
“Five more minutes” Eva mumbled, rolling over snuggling deeper under the blankets, before a rough hand grabbed her ankle, pulling her out of bed with a yelp,  
“There’s a coffee downstairs, go get ready” Joseph patted Eva’s head gently as he dropped her foot, “Also good morning sister”  
“Fuck you, Joseph” Eva mumbled, taking a few extra seconds before she dressed and dragged her bag downstairs.  
  
“Eva!” John smiled, handing the tired woman a travel mug filled with coffee, “I heard the bang, are you okay?”  
“Joeybear decided to wake me up nicely” Eva stretched, as she lugged her bag to the jeep outside, “I think next time I’m going to yell that I’m touching myself to freak him out.”   
Jacob chuckled as he finished lifting the rest of the equipment, “Don’t speak too loudly or John will tattoo _‘Lust’_ onto you Evie”  
“I’m impressed with John’s tattoos though, he’s added a bit to me since I arrived” She gestured to a small eagle on her shoulder, “Free tattoos are the best tattoos.”  
“I bet, go sit in the front and warm up” He patted her back gently as he disappeared into the house,  
“Don’t forget to bring the guitar, Jacob!” Eva called out, as she slipped into the front seat of the car to find his dog tags waiting for her, “You’re my favorite idiot, Jakey…”  
  
The jeep sped down the roads of Holland Valley, heading towards the pristine mountains of the Whitetails, her brothers chatted contently amongst themselves,  
“Are you going to join the Project, Eva?” Joseph watched the younger woman through tinted glasses, “I do not wish to force it upon you but I would rather you not be a sinner…”  
Eva hummed, flipping down the sun visor so she could peer at Joseph through the mirror, “Humor me for a moment, what deadly sin am I?”  
John and Joseph whispered in a hushed tone as they went they began to decipher through the sins, cutting them out as they went,   
“They do know I studied Latin at school right? I’m not that much of a heathen” She chuckled as Jacob nudged her gently,   
“You know if you go through with it, your sins will be carved into you” He laughed as he veered off onto a hidden road, swarmed by mountains and forests.  
“We think you are Wrath, Envy, and Sloth” John hummed, gently pulling Eva’s arm to trace the words in Latin along it,  
“So I’m Envy - because I am jealous that you had each other…Wrath because I was in the war?” Eva glanced over at the two brunette brothers, “And how am I Sloth? I think we’re due for some pushup competitions this week, Jacob”  
“We don’t mean sloth as in you’re lazy, we mean it as though you are avoiding spiritual work - you don’t go to church or… believe” Joseph watched as Eva hummed to herself thinking it all through,   
“Fine, I’ll humor you and go to your sermon on Sunday and see how I feel about it, happy?”   
“Only if I introduce you as our sister” John shook her hand, sealing the deal quickly,  
“Whoa now, I’m not going to be introduced like that!” Eva gasped,   
“There was a handshake - it’s a deal” Jacob laughed as he pulled up to a small driveway, “Welcome to our cabin Evie.”  
The little log cabin was not what she had imagined, instead of being some rundown, single room shack, instead, it was like a chalet,  
“You… uh… own this place?” Eva hopped the fence as she stared at the building in utter shock,   
“No Eva we’re just going to break in and stay here for a week” John tossed a back at Eva as Luca dashed around, barking happily,   
“Sounds good, I miss breaking into places. There’s this nice ranch I’m eyeing up down in Holland Valley - airstrip and all” She smirked, “Some weird guy…John Seed owns it, I heard he was strange”  
“Keep that up and I’ll show you how strange I can get” John chuckled as he opened up the large wooden doors,   
“It’s official, I’m terrified of you all” Eva shuddered, as they carried in their bags and supplies.

“Why are we doing this again?” Eva frowned as she gestured, her brothers had led her to a military-inspired obstacle course,  
“You asked for a competition, you get one” John shrugged,  
“I said pushups, not hell” She huffed, “Plus you guys are distracting since you all seemed to lose your shirts”  
Joseph eyed her carefully, “Says the woman in a sports bra and yoga shorts, this is nothing to what Jacob puts you through anyway.”  
“Remind me to cross your name off my Christmas list” She sighed, eyeing the course carefully, “I have a disadvantage… I’m only 5’7, Jacob is what 6’2? Disqualify me for not reaching the right height!”   
“If you leave I will throw you onto the ground and let John tattoo whatever the hell he wants too on you” Joseph warned, as Eva tensed on the spot,   
“Alright, let's have fun!” She mumbled unenthusiastically.   
  
“Are you ready?” Joseph panted as they all stood at the beginning of the course, all standing tied for first. The siblings had started off having a friendly competition before they had all begun winning against each other. Anyone who knew the Seed family knew that friendly competitions became a war - winner take all situation. Arguments and fights had often happened between the brothers back when the Project had begun - purely from friendly competitions.   
“I’m…I’m good” Eva breathed, struggling to regain a steady flow of breathing, the blaring mid-afternoon Montana sun was making it harder for her to stay hydrated,  
“Evie…If you don’t feel good, you can sit out” John nudged her gently, “You look a little pale.”  
“Let’s do this” She groaned, “I need a massage after this…”  
“Find yourself a nice partner to do just that” Jacob hummed, “Start in three…”  
  
A beep from John’s phone indicated the start of the race, using her smaller stature to her advantage, Eva found it easier to slip between the smaller crevices to reach the final destination. Jacob had easily gained the lead, while John and Joseph were battling it out for second place, Eva hissed as she fell into line behind them.   
“It ain’t fair I don’t know this course!” She yelled as she vaulted over a broken fence,   
“You’ve run this nine times in the last four hours” Jacob replied somewhere further in the course, “Stop talking and catch up.”   
After clawing her way through nets and fences, Eva pulled herself onto a splintered log, carefully balanced between two sturdy poles and rusted chained barely keeping the older log in place.   
“Don’t fall” John taunted as he pulled himself over a half wall, easily maneuvering over a collection of barrels and hurdles,   
“I really hate you all right now” Eva mumbled, wiping sweat from her forehead, only to swear as a new layer appeared mere seconds later. Distributing her weight evenly, Eva bounded over the log, hissing as it   
  
  
Hearing the shifting of metal barrels, Eva took a split second to notice how John had swiftly pushed them into her path. Without doubting her abilities, she quickly executed a front handspring much to Jacob’s surprise - who was watching his sibling's race to join him at the finish line.   
“Look at you go Evie, our own little gymnast hmm?” He laughed as she started to scramble closely behind John and Joseph up a climbing rope, she was determined not to come last to show that she had improved over the weeks she had been back. As she pulled herself onto the small wooden structure, she peered at the ground,  
“Broken foot one way…” She panted, glancing at a shed roof where their canteens were sheltered, “Sneaky shortcut another way.” Taking her own little leap of faith, she shook off the pain of landing on metal, to hop over the edge now racing against Joseph - who’d slowed down to see his sisters tricks. Picking up the speed as the finish line flashed into sight, Eva sighed in defeat as Joseph easily reached his brothers before her.   
“I hate you” She elbowed him lazily before flopping to the grass exhausted, “I could beat them on the course the Chosen are put through.”   
“Only since I’ve had you out there every day, forcing them to train” Jacob hummed, pressing a canteen into her hands, “You were good today, your footwork got lazy - you should focus more energy into your core like that flip you did.”   
“That was me on the spot okay, I’m not that good” Eva huffed, using Jacob’s arm to pull herself up, her gaze flickered around at her brothers who looked equally exhausted, “Do I at least get to be carried home?”   
Eva yelled in shock as her brothers all lifted her, Joseph holding her shoulders as John and Jacob lifted her by the legs,   
”Whoa no no no! I mean I’ll koala onto you!“ She scrambled as they carried her down to a large manmade lake, ”I won’t forgive you!“   
”Sorry Evie“ Joseph laughed as they threw her into the water,   
”I’m gonna kill you!“ She yelled, disappearing underneath the deep blue waters as she swam towards the small dock her brothers stood on. She eyed the nearest person to the edge, as she swiftly wrapped her blistering hand around John’s ankle, tugging him quickly, she smirked as he grabbed onto their older brothers forcing them to endure the lake waters.   
”I win assholes“ She laughed, giving John a wink as their little plan had worked - anything to get back at their older brothers was always triumphant in her books. Jacob wrapped a rough arm around Eva’s torso, pulling her close   
”You are a tricky one but you should learn to keep your plans to yourself“   
”Are you threatening me, brother dearest?“ Eva pouted, as he helped her back up onto the banks of the lakes, for a moment Jacob pondered it - before shoving her back into the lake between Joseph and John,   
”Consider us even, girlie.“


	9. Chapter 9

The flames danced around in the fire pit as the crickets chirped signaling another night had come, Eva rested against John as she strummed absentmindedly to the guitar as she hummed in tune,  
“Someone’s been listening to the radio” Joseph chuckled, he tilted his beer bottle towards the woman, “Never thought I’d hear you singing to one of our songs.”  
“Not my fault your propaganda is catchy” Eva yawned, reading a few words from the book of the Father over John’s shoulder, “So what does your voice say about me, hmm? Do I fit into the circle of things?”  
“Well… He hasn’t discussed your part yet Eva, you haven’t been tested. Jacob had his test in the war, mine was with my daughter and John’s was when he was…getting beaten” Joseph eyed his younger brother carefully as Eva pressed her hand gently onto John’s chest,  
“It’s okay John” She soothed, as he struggled to contain his anger, “It’s just us, we’re here for you.” The pact that had been made many moons ago to avoid bringing up the past had been broken too many times, and the youngest often struggled to hold back the memories.  
“I can see why you have so many tattoos, John” She hummed gently in his ear as he leaned onto her for support, “Maybe I’ll have to get a few more done by you, hmm?”  
“You would?” He perked up, “I’ve been sketching some ideas to add on to your existing ones already…”  
“I can’t wait to see what you’ve done.”  
  
Eva hummed as she danced around the kitchen making pancakes and bacon for her brothers; she had been up since the sun peaked through the surrounding trees and she had run the course a few more times, having knocked her time down by almost two minutes.  
“You’re lucky I haven’t tripped on you, fuzzball” Eva chuckled, ruffling Luca’s tum as she slept in on the sun-warmed tiles of the kitchen, frowning to herself as she heard the squeal of tires on gravel. Her gaze flickered to a white pickup as two armed men approached the door,  
“A camping trip with the family does not involve your cult, Joseph” Eva sighed, eyeing the bedrooms her brothers were sleeping in, “I swear if this is your idea of fun…”  
She moved the breakfast off the heat before approaching the armored men who were waiting patiently at the door,  
“Can I help you?” Eva sighed, cracking the door slightly - mainly to stop Luca from pouncing on tweedle dee and tweedle dum.  
“Who are you!” Guns were raised at her, as Eva hummed and shut the door behind her,  
“I’m their new chef”  
“The Father would never hire a whore like you” One snarled, his gun resting against her temple,  
“I have to admit, I am offended” Eva brushed her finger’s against the barrel of the AR-C,  
“You have no sins cut into you, Brother John has no baptized you - therefore you are a sinner” The other one pulled out a hunting knife, “I bet you whored yourself to their sides to bed with our glorious heralds.”  
Eva struggled to contain her disgust, “Why the hell would -”  
“Eva!” Faith squealed in delight, rushing over to hug the older woman, “I’ve missed you!”  
“We went for coffee three days ago” Eva chuckled as Faith waved the men away happily,  
“Eva is our personal chef! No one touches her!” “Do I get paid like a personal chef, Faith?” Eva chuckled, patting the siren’s shoulder gently. “I’ll have to get back to you on that.” “Those guards always creep me out…” Faith shuddered as she perched at the table, watching her adopted sister flip pancakes with ease, “Those ones, they are the Chosen?” Eva peered as the men pulled away, “Could you be a dear and get the three musketeers up?” Faith danced off towards the bedrooms contently as the inked woman sighed, already brewing coffees and teas for the group. The brothers slowly made their appearances, already fighting over who got their coffees first. “What’s our plan for today?” Eva hummed happily, placing the plates of pancakes and bacon down, “We have to plan the next sermon” Joseph pondered, placing a large number of folders onto the spare chair, “Where… am I sitting for breakfast?” Eva frowned as she gestured to the files, “This afternoon we’ll do something” John patted her arm, before waving her off to do her own thing. The inked woman watched at the heralds began to chat amongst themselves, building off each other's Ideas, _’If I knew this holiday was going to be about the Almighty Joseph, I would’ve stayed home…’_ Eva sighed as she grabbed a backpack and began to make herself some snacks and drinks for a hike. “Am I allowed to go for a walk?” She piped up, “I don’t care what you do Eva, as long as we can discuss in peace” Joseph snapped, watching her harshly through tinted glasses.

A deep snarl drew reminded Eva that she wasn’t alone in the forests, she hadn’t strayed too far from the house. Another snarl, closer than the first made the woman freeze, her eyes flickering around the bushes for the source of the noise, a small group of white wolves - all with the red cross staining their faces. “It’s okay” Eva cooed, fishing in her bag for the remnants of bacon she had knicked off the grill before leaving, “I ain’t going to hurt you.” She slowly approached the pack as she remembered the fastest way out of the forest, four legs were still faster than two but it would be a valiant effort. Using the bacon as a peace offering, she frowned as the wolfs whined and nuzzled one of their own - front paw Bleeding from a rusted piece of barbed wire fence. “Oh!…it’ll be okay. I can fix you up fluffy” She held her hand out for the pack to register her scent, she assumed she smelt like Jacob, “I’m going to carry you back and stitch you there… But first I need to pry this off you.” Resting in the dirt, Eva rested the wolf’s head on her lap as she ran her hand along the injured paw, finding where the metal had embedded itself into its foot, “This is going to hurt, Fluffy. I’m sorry” She slipped her fingers between the fur and the metal, tugging it off. She cared not about the pain of the rusted metal digging into the soft flesh of her palm, “See you’re just the bravest, I’m going to wrap your paw up and carry you back so I can clean your wound properly” Eva wiped her forehead, staining her skin with dirt and blood before she tore her shirt to use as a makeshift bandage. “You are lucky you are light” She sang, adjusting the weight of the white wolf as she arduous walk back to the chalet. The wolves ran ahead, contently pawing their way into the open chalet, “Puppies, wait for fluffy and I!” The heralds looked in horror as Eva strolled in, the wolf in her arms - dirt, and blood covering them both, “Eva what did you do?” Joseph demanded as the woman hummed a tune to the wolves happily, “What are you doing with my judges?” Jacob hissed, “I’m helping Fluffy here. Gotta keep proactive when you four go into Peggy Zone.” Eva quipped, yanking a medical kit from one of the kitchen cabinets. She wasted no time washing the blood and grime away from the injured wolf, before gently applying salves and wrapping the injured paw in a sturdy bandage. The wolves sat contently by Jacob as he watched his younger sister care for an injured one, scowling to himself as he knew that he would’ve found the easiest way to end it’s suffering. “You should get your hand looked at…” Faith peeked around Joseph as the two brunette Seed brothers observed in awe, “I don’t care about my injuries as long as the wolves are okay” Eva replied, helping the wolf onto the lawn as Jacob inspected them carefully. “This lot’s been missing for two months now…” He growled as he searched them over, “I’ll take them back to the compound to get fed, but Eva they’re going to be your responsibility. Do you think you can handle six wolves and Luca?” “Is that a bet Jacob?” Eva whirled around to face the taller man, holding out her injured hand, “If you fuck up, I get to train Luca, the pup may be small but she has potential.”

As their final day arrived for their little holiday away, the quintet strolled through the lush overgrowth of the woods. Faith danced amongst the flowers contently as Eva stretched her limbs on a nearby rock,  
“So are snakes poisonous around here?”  
“Why are you asking?” Joseph hummed, watching his biological sister warily,  
“There’s a rattlesnake down here and I like snakes. I was never allowed one as a pet though” The auburn haired woman pulled herself up, carefully avoiding the predator,  
“You’ll have a few hours to live if it bites you” John chuckled, “Don’t know how you’d get to the clinic over in Holland Valley”  
“You’d carry me, John, cause I’m your baby sister”  
“Maybe in your dreams - but I wouldn’t carry you.”  
Eva shrugged, watching her siblings contently. she still struggled to come to terms of reuniting with her lost brothers and everything still felt like a dream.  
“You haven’t forgotten about tomorrow, Evie?” Jacob’s scarred hand on her shoulder made her tense,  
“Can I call him Daddy instead of Father?” Eva taunted, causing everyone to look at her as though she had grown a second head,  
“If you dare to, I will carve your sins into you publicly” Joseph growled under his breath. Eva sighed, raising her hands in a surrender,  
“Brother… You know I was joking. I’m still getting used to being back - I’m sorry.”  
A tense nod of confirmation made the inked woman look away sadly.  
  
Eva had struggled to sleep as she thought about the Eden’s Gate church, she felt distanced from Joseph and she was worried it was from her being a sinner.  
“Luca how does one keep a civil friendship with her brothers…?” She gently stroked the pups head as she listened to the distant howl of Jacob’s judges finding their prey. Her mind wandered to the pack she had helped, wishing she could see them again,  
“You think I should just join the crazy?” A soft whine from the small corgi made Eva roll over to hold her companion,  
“It’s okay Luca, I’m here…I know those big wolves scare you…” Eva sighed deeply as she pulled the little dog onto her chest, “You and I… we’re both afraid of something out there.” She felt the Luca ease in her embrace,  
“ _I will always be the black sheep in their happy flock.”_


	10. Chapter 10

Eva slipped into the shadows as she sat in the back row of the pews, she struggled to understand how she easily got into the church without any of the guards noticing her. The back pews had been empty - she assumed more people were looking to sit towards the front to be closer to their Almighty Father. Sleep hadn’t come for her during the night and she had struggled to even drive over to the island Joseph’s compound was on. At least one deer and three wolverines had lost their lives on Eva’s drive over and she cursed herself to stop in Falls End to pick up some sleeping pills.   
She tensed as Joseph took center stage, beginning to read verses from his own Bible - it all just sounded like white noise to her.   
“ _I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red_ ”   
Eva frowned as she watched as Joseph read about the seals, she had heard him rambling on about the horsemen and seven seals and she felt like she had it beaten into her brain. She glanced at Jacob who seemed more interested in his knife, while John and Faith whispered to each other.   
_‘At least they have each other to talk too’_ Eva felt herself zoning out as the drawl of Joseph’s speech made her mind wander.

  
“Before we all move over to the communal tents for lunch, I wish for my dearest sibling to be introduced to you all…”  
Eva looked up in horror, her gaze flickered to the door - guards had been positioned their strategically - only way out was through a window or facing the inevitable. John made his way down the altar, stopping beside Eva with an outstretched hand,   
“Do it the easy way, sister” He winked, as he grabbed her wrist and dragged her into Joseph’s arms.   
“I’m glad you finally decided to join us in Eden’s Gate, Eva” Joseph began, as the cultists roared and cheered in happiness, “After searching for you, we have finally mended the hole in our broken family.”  
“Uh, I never asked for this” Eva mumbled, struggling to get herself free, “I never agreed to anything so far.”   
“I blessed you myself. You’re apart of our family now, Evie” Joseph whispered in her ear, his plans to force his little sister into his paradise had worked, “Your private baptism is happening after lunch.”  
  
Eva played along with Joseph’s little game at the communal lunch, struggling to mingle with the many peggies who pounced at her with questions. She could feel the heralds watching her like a hawk as she jumped between the groups of men and women,   
“It’s so nice to have a new face around here” One woman gushed, clutching onto Eva as she was toured around, “So are you new to the county?”  
“Well I’ve been here a few months on and off” Eva shrugged,   
“What brought you here?” Another cultist smiled,   
“My brothers” She hummed, gesturing meekly to the heralds. Hands slipped off her as the peggies all stepped away confused as Faith danced over, wrapping a soft hand around Eva’s,   
“A Seed with no sins…” One hissed as they slowly dispersed back to their own groups  
“Can’t be apart of Eden’s Gate until you confess” Another one growled,   
“Eva is still learning her way around, we will all help her” The Siren sung as she lured Eva into the church for solitude.  
“They just want what is best for you…” Faith frowned as soon as they were out of earshot of everyone,   
“Best for me?” Eva sighed, disappointed at how it had played out, “At the end of the day, I’ll always be another pawn of King Joseph’s game.”  
“Eva he is trying - he’s only a man”   
“A man who heard some spiritual voice” Eva mumbled as she paced around, “Faith, you’re a good woman… I just think this is too much for me…”  
Faith sighed lacing her fingers with Eva’s, “Your brothers love you… they are struggling to run the cult and care for you…”  
“Struggling? Faith, I don’t think they realize I don’t see their end goal… I was six when I was forced away from them, I had nothing to cling on to. They weren’t there when I failed…” Eva frowned as she watched her brothers through an open door, “Look at how happy they are Faith… I only see them like this when they are around you or they’re preaching…”   
Faith tensed up, her fingers brushed the small bottle of bliss oil Joseph had told her to use on the pacing woman,  
“Faith… I love you, you’re like a younger sister to me, but I don’t believe I can build the bridge between them and I. Too much has happened and I can’t continue trying only for Joseph to push me back time and time again…” Eva quickly disappeared back into the forest where she had parked her car, silently wishing all the best for whatever may come of Eden’s Gate.   
  
“You’ve been on edge ever since you left the church three days ago, Eva” Mary frowned, rubbing her coworker's shoulder gently, “What gives?”  
The auburn haired woman shrugged, glancing briefly at her boss as she poured a pint for the Deputy,   
“Just a flood of threats for Jesus Manbun, something about how he’s going to sic his chosen onto me and shoot me with bliss bullets. Word to the wise, don’t skip his communal lunches - even though the food is… well, let’s say I’d rather eat raw meat and MREs…” Eva smirked, slipping to sit on the counter of the near-empty bar,   
“Watery mac and cheese?” Rook teased, as their companion shuddered at the thought, “Nick _always_ complains about it”  
“It’s disgusting, I watched Joseph make it and he didn’t drain the pasta” Eva threw her hands up exasperated,   
“Is there anything he can do well?” Mary chuckled before taking a long sip of her beer,   
“Manipulating and twisting words… As much as I hate to say it, I can see why he’s in the position he’s in now…” The inked woman leaned over, playing with a dial on the radio - flicking between stations and the news across the county,   
“- _Shot down that blasted Seed’s plane-”_ The frequency crackled as the trio glanced at it in shock,   
“They… don’t happen to be talking about John’s plane right?” Eva whispered to the Dep as Mary flickered through the different stations,  
“This is Mary May of Fall’s End - can you repeat that?” The blonde woman hummed into the small radio,   
_“We cleared Holland Valley of John Seed - we shot his plane down”  
_ Eva froze, her chest ached in agony as she tried to piece everything together,   
“Where is it!” She demanded, already strapping her pistol and sniper to her body,   
“Across the river in the forests, south of the Seed ranch… Eva, I suggest we ask Nick for help, he could fly you across the area…”  
Dep’s fingers dug into the woman’s arms, forcing her to stop before she dashed off,   
“I’m coming with you, if the resistance is out there - they’ll kill you.”   
  
Dep, Nick, and Eva scoured the forests south of the valley, from the air they had seen the tail of the plane, dangerously swaying on debris and broken trees.  
“Think he’d have survived…” Nick began as Eva shot him a dirty glare,   
“Will of the Father…” Rook murmured as they walked into the youngest Seed, “Earth to Eva…oh”  
Eva stood at the remnants of what was John’s beloved plane, there was no way it was going to be repaired that easily. The limp body of her brother slumped over in the cockpit,   
“Nick you’re on me, Dep have the medkits ready…This thing could explode if we’re not careful…” The thick smell of fuel consumed the once clean air as Eva eyed the wreckage carefully,   
“You’re the plane expert here Rye…The safest way to free him?”  
“Emergency latch should be around here somewhere…” Nick marveled, a part of him upset at the sight of a wrecked plane.   
  
“ _C’mon let’s get him down to the boat…”  
_ John blinked warily, he moved his arm to reach for the nearest person, only to hiss in agony.  
 _“John?”  
_ Fingers intertwined with his gently as Eva leaned over, painfully smiling at him,   
“We’re you crying, Evie…?” He croaked, slowly moving his hand to brush her cheek,   
“I was scared you weren’t gonna wake… Nick and Rook had to help me free you. Don’t worry, no broken bones” Eva ran her free hand through his hair gently.   
“How bad’s the plane?” He groaned, using Eva as a leverage to pull himself up,   
“I may have a few spare parts lying ‘round…” Nick smiled as he offered a hand to John, “We’re gonna get you back to your ranch and I’ll bring the parts of the plane around after dark.”  
John nodded a small thanks, using Eva and Nick to guide him to the boat Dep had grabbed,   
“Good thing you live nearby” Dep chuckled, “It’s good to have you alive John…”  
“Thanks _, Wrath”_ John smirked, using his little sister as a support as the world swirled around him. The boat ride back was painfully quiet, for once the youngest Seed brother had none of his quirks and quips to shoot at everyone, his saviors knew he was good at hiding his pains.   
  
“Do you think you can get him inside by yourself?” Nick nudged Eva gently as she helped John sit on a barrel of the small docks,   
“It’s not that far, just up the hill a bit… I think the other two are coming and Mister Watery Mac & Cheese has his panties in a twist…” Eva shrugged as the group stifled a laugh,  
“Are you going to give everyone nicknames?” John smirked, gently tracing his handy work of Eva’s new marks,  
“Nicknames? I’m hurt, Playboy, I’m trying to be nice” She gasped as she readied herself to carry John back, “C’mon let’s go get you a beer and leave Nick and Dep to do the dirty work.”   
With a cluster of farewells, they split up to complete their tasks.   
Eva gasped in shock as John pulled himself onto her back, she rested on hand on his crossed arms,   
“You’re a little feather aren’t you brother?” She chuckled as he sighed contently,   
“I could get used to this” He purred as she began to carry him home,   
“Only when you sprain your ankle I’ll carry you…”   
“Well can I have Luca until I heal?” John hummed sleepily,   
“Since you asked nicely and I love you.”  
The pair hummed quietly as the inked woman piggybacked her brother all the way back to his ranch,   
“If I were you, I would put my _brother_ down _.”_  
“Nice to see you too Joseph. I’m going to put John on the couch, alright? He needs to elevate his ankle” Eva frowned as John’s grip tightened on her in agony, a groan escaping his throat. Joseph’s guards raised their guns as the woman pushed her way into the ranch, carefully placing her sibling onto an armchair for their oldest brother to tend to his wounds.   
“Eva…” Jacob began, as she stepped away,   
“No. I will always disappoint Joseph” She shrugged, her voice quivering silently, “I wasn’t there for you when we were younger and it’s obvious it is too late for me to try…” She pulled away, walking away with her pride as Joseph scoffed,   
“If I catch you around my brothers or sister I will send my men after you”   
“Because you don’t have the balls to do it yourself, sweetheart.” Eva quipped, shooting him a glance, “I’ll send your items back in the post, brother dearest.”   
“No one wants you here, Eva.”   
  


Eva relaxed at her little house, feeling a bit lonely without her pup companion - John had asked if he could have Luca while he recovered from his bruised bones and ego. Everywhere Eva moved in the county, she had felt this constant feeling that she was being watched, there were dangers out there and she knew it. Joseph’s threats hadn’t made her worried, instead, there were rumors of some underground resistance group that wanted her had surfaced. It had merely been a few hours since the confrontation with Joseph at the Seed ranch, Jacob had popped in to apologize, something that Eva had brushed off as she handed her little pup over. The thoughts of the argument suddenly became blurry as a sharp object struck her in the neck, heavy footsteps stormed into her house as she slumped heavily to the ground,  
“What should we do with the woman?” A voice growled somewhere behind her,   
“No harming her til she’s back?” Sluggishly Eva tried to reach for her pistol, her fingers brushed against the grip as a foot stomped down, the sound of a bone breaking and her weak cries in pain echoed through her house,   
“Ah ah… No weapons for you girlie.”   
A laugh taunted her as she was pulled over someones back, even with her vision becoming foggy she noticed that these people weren’t from Eden’s Gate.   
_“Bring her back to the den, we need to interrogate her. Maybe then we can bring those sons of bitches down…”_

 


	11. Chapter 11

Minutes had become tedious weeks since Eva’s disappearance, the folks of Falls End had scoured every house, every bunker and every cliff for their missing friend. John had taken it the worst - he had become a local in Mary’s bar, spending his nights hunched over a map, crossing areas he had searched,  
“Hun, I think you need to take a night to yourself” Mary mused, placing a cold beer beside the agitated man,  
“No, I need to find her. What if she fell and broke a leg?” He snapped, voice hoarse from sleepless nights crying.  
“We would’ve found her by now John, you said so yourself about how Joseph and she had the heated argument… What if he has something to do with it?”  
“Jacob and I thought that at first…but Joseph was with us all night - I couldn’t walk properly…” John sighed, his gaze flickering around the near-empty bar, “Have you found anything yet? Any of the other resistance Headquarters at least…”  
Mary shook her head with a sigh, slipping into the chair opposite him, “The prison hasn’t seen her, they’ll keep an eye out. Wolves Den said they had seen her heading towards the highway around the date, you said so yourself, her bank accounts haven't been touched and she’s left her wallet behind.”  
“I know… It’s the best lead we have… I’ll send some men to Missoula to see if she’s graced them with her appearance…” John took a long sip of his beer as he typed out a text to the cult, instructing a group to search the city,  
“John, I know it’s been six weeks since she disappeared - but we will find her” Mary patted his arm gently, “I’ll get the group to meet up at her house tomorrow, maybe we’re missing something.”  
“I’ll give the others a call to meet us up there…Joseph will act like he doesn’t care, but he forgot to turn his radio off the other night” John chuckled, as he helped the blonde barmaid clean up,  
“Please tell me he was sobbin’” Mary grinned,  
“It was glorious. Jacob and I were on mute and poor Faith was struggling with calming him down” John smirked, memories of Eva drifted back into his mind, “She would’ve loved it…”  
“We’ll get her back, I promise.”  
  
Luca squirmed in John’s arms as he carried the pup through Eva’s house, Dep had moved into the small house under the terms that as soon as Eva was found, they were to move out,  
“I know pup, I miss her too…” John frowned, pouring a small bowl of kibble out as he waited for the rest of the group to arrive. The resistance had backed down, finally giving the Seeds breathing space - thanks to the Dep, the county's main focus was finding Eva.  
“The Whitetails took back another outpost a few hours ago, I thought there was a truce?” A gruff voice caused John to jolt out of his studies as the rest of their posse gathered around the living room,  
“Eli agreed to it…” Jess shrugged, “I’ll go talk to him tomorrow”  
“Dep, go with Jess to sort that out” Mary sighed, “Faith, any word from the men in Missoula?”  
“There's been no sightings at all…” Faith frowned, “Pastor Jerome, Grace and I rechecked every house… Nothing…”  
“Either someone is hiding her or she’s the new hide and seek champion” Nick hummed, “Adelaide and I searched around, saw a few small caves down in the valley and a few abandoned houses in the mountains that maybe places to search. I’ve marked them on a map if we wanted to send a few groups out tomorrow.”  
“I’ll take the mountains with John if you wanted to take the valley, Joseph?” Jacob looked over the scrawled map, as John copied the marks down on his own,  
“I know none of us want to think it, but has anyone checked Angel’s Grave?” Mary glanced at the sullen faces of the group,  
“I’ll join Joseph and we can search the mass drops” Jerome searched the map, “Adelaide can fly us around if Nick wants to join you up the mountains…”  
The group spent the next few hours planning and organizing their intensive search, the Chosen had all been given direct orders to scour any towns and buildings in a twenty-mile radius outside of Hope County. “  
”We’ll find her“ Jacob hummed, ”Knowing Eva, she probably went for a walk and broke her leg and can’t find her way home“  
”We should do another search of the Chalet in that case“ John chuckled sadly, ”We should rest up… Got a busy day tomorrow.“  
  
  
“…W-what do you want from me?” Pale fingers wrapped around the bars of the small darkly-lit cell, two figures loomed over the shivering wreck, trapped behind the metal,  
“How long has it been since we fed you, hmm? A week?” One tutted, slipping his fingers beneath the chin of the prisoner,  
“E-eleven days…” It meekly responded as the figures laughed.  
“Do you know why you’re here?” The other hummed, waving a small bowl of stale bread in front of the captive,  
“No” The incarcerated mumbled, “I don’t know why…”  
“Do you know how long our war has been going on?” The first shadow rested their hands around the neck of their prisoner, “Too god damn long.”  
“If your brother saw you now, you’d be _culled_ Like all those innocent people he killed” The second one dropped the bowl of food, “You better eat before your next interrogation session. That starts in an hour.”  
The two figures laughed as they strolled out of the room and their prisoner slipped to the ground, struggling to keep the dried bread down.  
  
The captives pale skin had been burnt, broken and bruised as the guards threw salt water onto the fresh tears into its back, a weak cry in agony echoed through the small room,  
“That’s right, cry for them. They think you’re out there, hiding from them” The figures from before were back, the hostage hadn’t seen much of these two since they had been taken.  
“If only they knew, this whole time you’ve been here - right under their very noses” The woman hummed, fingers digging into open wounds to spread them further, “We’re going to pull all the information about your brothers from you, then we’ll leave your corpse right outside their pretty little church.”  
“Please don’t do this…” The mattered mess begged, “I-I don’t know what you want from me”  
“Oh come now, Eva. We both know that we hate your family. You spill the information, we’ll let you shower. Six weeks of blood and dirt can’t be too good for opened wounds and a broken leg.”  
“I was going to suggest we take away her water bowl and restart the whole breaking process again” Eli brushed his hand against Eva’s cheek, she shivered under his touch,  
“Please, I hones-” Eva was cut off as Eli rammed his fist into her cheek, splitting her lip,  
“You don’t get to say anything unless it’s about your brothers, got it?” He smiled as Eva nodded meekly.  
_I have to survive…for them_ …


	12. Chapter 12

John paced around, furiously chatting with Jacob and Joseph as the search dwindled down. It had been four and a half months since Eva had gone missing and all sightings had turned up false. Dep and Jess had been in the Whitetail Mountains every day, now with their own pack of judges to try and find their lost friend. The judges had taken a particular liking to the bunker doors of the Wolves Den, even though their searches inside hadn’t turned up anything.  
“I know no one wants to say it… but I think she’s probably gone off and…” Joseph sighed heavily,  
“No! She wouldn’t… kill herself” John hissed, “We know she struggled with it but she would not leave Luca and us hanging.”  
“Look, we’ve searched the whole county. We’ve had every search, either she’s completely disappeared off of the map or someone knows where she is” Jacob easily separated his younger brothers from tearing each other's throats out.  
“Not even the judges found her” John frowned, “Even the resistance pets couldn’t pick her scent up…”  
“We’ll organize another bunker sweep, we’ll let judges go in and see if they pick up anything. Even if it’s an old scent, they’ll hopefully put us on a small search scale” Jacob shrugged, taking a glance at the once pristine map. The search had been narrowed down quite drastically since they had begun, most of it was now lingering on the borders of the Henbane and Holland valley leading into the Whitetails.  
“How long before we agree she won’t come back?” Joseph spoke up, warily glancing at a picture of his sister and Luca, hanging on the wall to her near-empty house,  
“If we haven’t found anything by the end of the week we’ll say she’s MIA” Jacob sighed, John, nodded in agreement,  
“Seven days.”  
  
  
The search parties had been amped up for the final week of the tedious search, patches of soil had been dug up - along with the corpses that had been buried beneath them. All roads leading into the mountains had been closed, every car stopped and searched as the County lost all hope for their missing comrade. John struggled to keep himself calm and level-headed as he continued to glance at his watch,  
“You know you’ll be stressing yourself out even more” Jess hummed as she led John through the forests, Peaches and a small pack of judges were sniffing at every foreign scent they came across,  
“Until I know she’s dead, I won’t give up” He snapped, knuckles turning white as he balled them into fists.  
“She’s still out there somewhere” The huntress stopped, silently gesturing for John to move to her side, the judges had begun to circle a small patch of dirt, “Call for Dep and Jacob, I’ll investigate.”  
“We’re south-east of the Wolve’s Den, close to the lake’s edge” John murmured through the small radio, “Jess is investigating…”  
“Have the wolves made a sound?” Dep hummed quietly, “Jacob say’s they’ll do that if its…”  
“It’s a fresh dig, quickly done too…” Jess murmured through her radio, giving John a quick glance as she clawed at the loose soil, “I recommend you get here asap.”  
  
“Blood’s still fresh on it” Jacob held the tattered flannel shirt up as he peered at it, he had seen Eva wear it on many occasions. The red stains contrasted with the light grey fabric, damp in some places while the blood had hardened in others, a layer of dirt and sweat had made the group ponder about their friend.  
“Think it’s all her blood? It’s a lot…” Nick frowned, leaning back onto the desk of the Elk Jaw Lodge, they had turned it into their own hub for the search parties, close enough for the river for the Carmina pilot to land his beloved seaplane,  
“I’d say it’s all hers. Whoever buried it has her and… she probably has shit all time left before her body collapses in on itself” Jacob hissed, as he pried his beloved dog tags from the torn shirt’s pocket, blood had covered the metal, “Some of its fresh blood, the judges should be able to track it back to the source.”  
“This is the best and only lead we have, whoever buried it…” Joseph began as Grace slipped in to cut him off,  
“Judges found a pile of sheets, soaked in blood too” The sniper dropped the bagged pile of messed fabrics, “This time it was North-west of the Den.”  
“Narrowed our search down a lot, I’ll send the wolves out to keep guard of the area” Jacob hummed, images of his sisters bruised and torn body flickered in his mind, “Dep, I want you to talk to Eli tomorrow, in case he’s seen something strange recently.”

  
_"Welcome to Eden’s Gate”_  
Eva glanced around, she found herself in on a rolling meadow, bliss flowers and woodland critters danced about in the gentle breeze. A large gate stood on a small hill, surrounded by people she couldn’t quite make out.   
“I’m glad you could join us here sister…” Joseph’s voice sang around her as she stumbled towards the gate,   
“Here?…Where is here? I… was trapped in a bunker” Eva mumbled as the Seed family appeared around her in small bursts of mist,   
“You are safe” John smiled, his fingers brushing against her own. The world around them seemed to shift and change as she slowly approached the metal gate, the soft swish of waves lapping at the sandy shores of a beach,   
“It’s okay Evie, we've got you back now” Jacob shot her one of his eerie smiles, Eva found herself glancing at him - the blueness of their eyes was instead a deep dusky black, looking more like Death than her brothers.   
“Whatever is the matter?” Faith wrapped a delicate arm around Eva, “Your friends are waiting for you…”   
She glanced up at the figures near the gate, they were facing towards her now. Eva recognized them as her friends from Hope County, all with the same deathless look in their eyes,   
“No no no! You… you can’t… I need…”

  
Agonising pain shot through her forearm as she writhed in agony,  
“Oh, snapping an ulna does hurt” Tammy hummed, nudging Eva with her foot, “Something wrong? You haven’t spoken for three weeks, Seed.”  
Eva struggled to fight her cries as they bubbled in her throat, it had been two weeks since she had been given food. Her broken leg ached as Tammy brushed her cheek gently,  
“Your bone looks really good sticking through your skin like that” She smiled, forcing the weakened woman to glance at the new tear in her skin, “You know, we had a bet running that you’d only last two months, your idiot brothers can’t even find you.”  
Eva groaned as she convulsed under Tammy’s touch,  
“You barely have a day left in you, sweetie. Can’t wait to leave your body outside of one of their compounds, it’ll remind them they’re useless”  
Eva’s vision grew fuzzy, darkness slowly consumed her as she felt herself drifting into another world.

  
The soft hymn of Amazing Grace dragged Eva back to the meadows of Eden’s Gate, the world shifted and changed as she struggled to see the people she so dearly longed for.  
“Brothers… Please, I need you” She cried, her legs buckled beneath her as the ground seemed to extend, “Jacob… I can’t do this… Please, you need to help…”  
“Maybe you should’ve joined us while you had the chance” Faith sung, her eyes flickering through a spectrum of colors,  
“We gave you all the chances sister” Joseph’s voice eerily drifted around the ever-changing world, figures flickered like a television with no signal as the Gates to Eden opened,  
“Only the strong get to join us, Eva” Jacob appeared alongside his siblings near the paradise that was theirs, “You are _dying_ girlie, that proves you are weak”  
“I…I am sorry” Eva struggled to reach for them as the world shifted yet again. A cage formed around her, that horrid smell of months of old blood, dirt and sweat caused her to cough, before her the Heralds stood. With a flick of Joseph’s wrist, her cuts, bruises, and breaks slowly started to reappear on her, she collapsed to the soiled ground as tears welled up,  
“Joseph please!” She tried to yell, instead, no words came out,  
“It is the will of God, Eva” He cooed, his fingers tenderly stroking a cut across her eye. Trailing his hand down to cup her chin, Joseph leaned in close, lips brushing against her ear as he whispered,  
_"Relax, your pain will be gone soon enough.”_


	13. Chapter 13

Blue skies had splotches of grey clouds as a chill in the air sent shivers down everyone's spine;  storms in Hope County were destructive, landslides and flooding often trapped the county from the rest of society. The winds began to howl as thunder boomed from beyond the mountains, rain began to pound down - almost instantly saturating any poor sod who’d been outside.

“Requesting assistance in the Whitetail mountains” Dep called into their receiver as a storm brewed in the County,   
“What assistance do you need?” Dispatch hummed back, the night had obviously been quiet,   
“We need an ambulance, got a woman fighting for her life” Dep hissed as the wind picked up, even the shelter near the Wolves Den helipad wasn’t giving them much leeway from the storm, “We need to get her into ICU asap.”  
“We’ll send an air ambulance from Missoula. Do you need any other assistance?”   
Dep’s gaze flickered over to their broken friend, a small group of Chosen surrounded the limp body of Eva as Jacob spoke quietly into his own radio,   
“Her oldest brother is here, she’s the one who went missing a few months back” Dep buzzed as the winds and rains picked up, “We need to move her further to the south, send the helicopter to Fall’s End, we’ll block the road off and keep her warm until then.”   
“The Heli is gearing up, should be there in forty minutes. Over and out.”   
Dep frowned, watching as Eva convulsed in the makeshift stretcher. The chosen had managed to wrap her broken wrist and leg in improvised bandages,   
“Get the car here now” Jacob barked at an unsuspecting Chosen as he turned back to his own radio, “Have blankets ready for when we get there, her temperature and pulse are fluctuating.”  
“We’ll get that sorted for you” Joseph mumbled back, “Keep her alive until then.”  
  
The heralds and the resistance watched from the windows of the Spread Eagle as the convoy of cars skidded to a halt. Jacob hooked one arm under Eva’s legs as hoisted her into his arms, incoherent mumbles escaped her as her eyes flickered open and shut.   
“I know Evie, you’re safe” He hummed gently in her ear as he carried the weakened woman into the warm bar, “The helicopter should be here in 10 minutes…”  
A small bundle of blankets and pillows had been laid out across two tables that had been pushed together,   
“They had her in a cell” Jacob hissed as he laid the shivering body onto the mess of warm fabric, “At least my prisoners had better lives than she did.”  
“Did you kill them?” John frowned, struggling to look at Eva, he felt like he could’ve found her months ago if he had looked hard enough.   
“Surprisingly, they handed her over. From now on, someone is to be with her at all times” Jacob sighed as the sound of rotors grew louder. 

They took up a corner of the waiting room, Jacob and Dep hadn’t spoken much about the condition she had been found in, the rain had washed the dirt from her, revealing more bruises, cuts, and scars. John, Nick, Grace, Jess, and Mary were making small chat, not wanting to think about the worst outcome - apart from the ticking of the clock and their small chat, it was eerily silent.   
“Who is Ms. Sable’s guardian?” A nurse caused them to all glance up, as Jacob frowned,   
”I am Eva’s oldest brother, I’ll be her self-appointed guardian…“ He sighed, as the nurse asked him to look over some forms before leading him to her room.   
”What was that about?“ Faith asked, lacing her fingers together,  
”Could mean a few things“ Rook frowned, ”Eva might have multiple breaks and will need assistance for a while…She might need to go through physical therapy…“   
”Whatever the case is, we’ll all help her“ Nick hummed.   
  
Jacob watched the slow rise and fall of Eva’s chest as the doctors walked him through her damage, broken leg, snapped wrist, and a few fractured ribs. Bandages concealed the extent of her new scars and stitches, while bruises stood out on her pale skin.   
”Most people would’ve given up the fight“ A doctor frowned as he checked her vitals, ”She was severely starved and dehydrated. Even a few hours later and she’d be gone…“  
”Eva’s always been the little fighter“ Jacob hummed gently rubbing his little sister's hand, ”I guess she’ll have some sort of trauma to deal with?“  
”She will suffer some trauma, I’ll prescribe her with sleeping tablets and a few other medicines that I’ll entrust to you.“   
Jacob nodded as he eyed his sister’s form, ”We’ve got a physiotherapist already sorted to help her.“   
”That’s good, it’ll probably take a few months for her to strengthen the muscles again. She’ll be discharged in a few days with the way she is recovering.“   
  
The group had shifted into Eva’s room, taking turns to stay with her or sleeping at a hotel John had booked nearby. It was mid-morning and the group sat around, talking amongst themselves as John rubbed Eva’s good hand gently, she had yet to regain full consciousness.   
”She’ll be moved into the Ranch temporarily“ Joseph gently gave Eva’s arm a soft squeeze, ”We’ll take turns looking after her.“   
”What are we going to do about Wolves Den?“ Dep mumbled, images of the putrid room Eva had been in flickered in their mind, they hadn’t forgotten the lingering scent that had hung in the air.   
”Leave them be“ Mary reassured, ”Eva is our priority and they won’t mess with her for a while“   
”We warned them that if they near her, we won't hesitate to shoot“ Jacob insisted as Eva mumbled disjointedly. All eyes flickered as Eva’s movements grew more restless, her eyes flickering as she jolted up in her bed in shock,   
”W…where..“ She gasped,   
”Hey, hey, shush“ John chimed as he gently squeezed her hand, Jacob eyed him carefully as the injured woman looked at him in awe,   
”J…John?“ She cried, her good hand slowly snaking to stroke his cheek, ”You’re _real._ “   
Doctors had rushed in as Eva’s monitors began to beep furiously, the had found her, head buried in John’s chest. She was constantly on edge with anyone who walked through the door, often clutching whoever was near her for support.   
  
”You’re okay Evie“ Joseph hummed gently, running his fingers through her hair as the medical staff ran her through her procedures of recovery. It had been a few hours since she had returned to consciousness and every slight noise had made her jump in fear, all that everyone could think about was how she was going to cope back in Hope County.  
”Your brother Jacob said he was going to administer your medications and you’ll be staying at Joseph and Johns house?“ The doctor asked Eva who nodded in confusion,  
”…I think that’s right…“  
”Our main concern is trying to help your body regain a balanced diet, start with light plain foods like rice before adding in any sort of heavy flavors. You might find your body rejecting it at the beginning, that’ll be normal. You’ll be dispatched this evening or tomorrow morning, but we’ll be over for house visits every week to check on your progress.“   
Eva’s blank stare was all anyone needed to see, she had no clue what the doctor meant,   
”You’re eating is limited and you’re getting weekly house calls“ John chuckled, as he flipped through a stack of papers and information they had been given,   
”Watery mac and cheese“ Nick smirked as the injured woman looked in horror,   
”Nick’s coming for dinner every night, Joseph. He loves your mac and cheese“ She peeped,   
”As punishment, I’m going to make it for you now.“  
  
Jacob pulled his sleeping sister into his arms before carefully maneuvering into the wheelchair John had, she couldn’t walk using crutches until her broken had healed.   
”Have you informed her that means we have to help her bathe?’ The Soldier hummed as he pulled a blanket around the young woman, causing John to chuckle,   
“I’ve purposely avoided that. I’m sure Mary, Faith, Grace or Jess will be willing to help with that” The Baptist took control of the wheelchair as he led her to the front desk where Joseph was signing her out  
“You better be right, just wait ‘til she sees the medication she needs to take” Jacob smirked, holding up a large paper bag, filled with different pills and liquids,   
“Three against one, you know all the easy ways to give medicine to a dog”  
“Are you two comparing our sister to a dog?” Joseph laughed as he piled their bags into the trunk of the car, “The others are checking out of the hotel now. We’re meeting them at the diner just before the turnoff to the county.”  
Jacob hummed as he scooped Eva back up, her arms snaked around him as she blearily looked around,   
“Where are we going Jakey?” She mumbled sleepily,   
“We’re going back to the ranch, okay?” He soothed as he gently placed her in the back seat, “We’re going to get some lunch, does that sound good?”  
“Is she doing okay?” Joseph glanced over as he slipped into the driver's seat, “John’s just calling Nick to inform him and the others we are ready”  
“Yeah, she fell asleep again. I’ll stay back here with her” Jacob adjusted himself to let Eva sleep on him comfortably,   
“They’re leaving now” John sighed as he pulled himself into the car, watching his sister sleep peacefully from the sun visor mirror,   
“ _We’ll protect you this time Evie…”_


	14. Chapter 14

_“Evie… c’mon girlie”  
_ She blinked a few times as a figure appeared in front of her, Jacob gently stroked her cheek,   
“Are we home?” She sighed gently at his touch,   
“We’re at the diner, sweetie. I’m going to carry you over, alright?” He gave her no chance to reply as he pulled her into his arms with ease. She mumbled in annoyance, resting her head on his shoulder as he carried her into the diner. Mary had scored a table in a corner where their injured friend would be safe from prying eyes, she smiled as Jacob slipped Eva in beside her,   
“You look annoyed” She hummed, resting her arm on the injured woman’s shoulder gently,   
“My pillow is rude” Eva mumbled as Jacob sat on her other side,   
“You chose to sleep on me, kitten. I’ll wake you up if I want too” He grinned, ruffling her hair.   
John and Joseph sat opposite Eva, watching her carefully, as the group flipped through the menus,   
“Eva, what did you want to eat?” Faith chimed softly from beside Joseph,   
“I’m okay…”   
“You need to eat Eva” Mary coaxed gently, “How about we share?”   
Eva glanced at the menu, shivering as she searched for the plainest thing on the menu,   
“I…I could just go with a piece of toast…” She murmured as John sighed,   
“Evie, hun… I think you need a little bit more than just toast. I’ll get you something okay?” He smiled meekly, knowing how torturous it was going to be until she started to regain her appetite, “You don’t have to eat it all, we can put it in the fridge at home for later.”  
  
Eva watched in shock as the waitress placed down all the different food for the group, a muffin, a small bowl of chicken soup and a bit of toast were placed in front of her and she had to take a minute to recompose herself.   
”I’m not hungry“ She muttered a weak lie as Jacob shot her a knowing glance, he pulled her soup closer to her,   
”Open“ He instructed quietly, holding a spoonful of warm soup near her, ”Don’t make me _force_ you, Evie,“  
Her cheeks turned red as she looked at Jacob embarrassed, ”Brother please…“ She whined quietly,   
He pressed the spoon between her lips, watching her carefully,   
”Just eat a little bit Eva, you almost lost half your body weight.“ Jacob hummed, managing to slip the spoon into her mouth, ”Good girl, I want you to eat a little bit more okay?“  
She made a noise of annoyance, pushing Jacob’s hand away from her before returning the spoon to her small bowl of soup,   
”I might be almost twenty years younger than you but I’m not a child“ She muttered as he chuckled,   
”You’re my baby sister and I’ll treat you like a child if I have too.“  
Eva made a few more grumbles towards her oldest brother, she pulled the small plate of toast closer to her as she tried to cut it into smaller pieces,  
”Would you like help?“ Nick watched as she carelessly stabbed at the innocent piece of toast, obviously upset at her inability of using a knife. She turned slowly, watching her pilot friend in annoyance,  
”I don’t _need_ any help.“  
” _Eva“_ Jacob hissed quietly to her, his hands swiftly resting on her cheek to force her to look at him, ”Stop acting like a child. You are injured, you need all the help we’re trying to offer“  
She watched him warily, trying to piece her brother together. Jacob had always been good facades, always staying strong for them when they were younger, never faltering at anything. He had never been the one to _talk_ about his emotions, instead, he _knew_ how to act.  
”Eva, accept our help“ He demanded gently, his hand had moved from her cheek to the small of her back, rubbing small circles with his thumb.   
She nodded meekly, resting her head on his shoulder in defeat, her dull gaze flickering over as Nick smiled sadly,   
”I’m gonna come over for a movie night every day“ The pilot declared as John looked at him in shock,   
”Not every night Rye, there’s only a small leeway that I’ll give you.“  
”I’ll take her back to my house to watch films“ Nick winked at Eva and the Dep triumphantly,   
”Can I have my toast now please?“ Eva mumbled, brushing off the cheeky bickering.

  
The brothers hung around the car as their sister slept peacefully in the back, curled into a blanket. Mary and Faith strolled over to talk with them quietly,   
”I sent Nick and Rook to the small supermarket to get some ginger tablet and electrolyte drinks and powder to hopefully help with any nausea she goes through“ Mary frowned, peering at the sleeping form,   
”You didn’t have to Fairgrave“ Jacob watched as the pilot and his partner in crime returned from what looked to be buying up the supermarket,   
”We got every sort of medication and electrolyte drink we could find“ Nick cheered, before gesturing to the large tub of ice cream and chocolates, ”When she needs a pick-me-up, we got her snacks and stuff!“  
The Seed brothers nodded tensely, not wishing to break the high spirits of their sister’s friends,   
”Eva would love it!“ Faith chimed, giving Joseph a tiny wink as they began to pile the food items into the cars.   
”Ice cream always makes me feel better when I feel like shit“ Nick hummed, ”Ice cream beats toast any day, so I made sure to get her ten different flavors!“  
”And thirty different types of chocolate because we couldn’t decide!“ Dep smiled, handing the supplies off to the brothers, ”We’ll see you back at the ranch!“  
  
”Well… at least she’s going to have dessert for the next seven months“ John sighed, piling the bags of foods into the trunk of the car, ”They even bought her cookies and cakes… Is it rude to pawn it back to Rye?“  
”We’ve got communal lunch sorted“ Joseph chuckled as he flicked through each bag, trying to find the medical supplies, ”She was looking a little pale and I’m concerned the roads may make her stomach churn…“  
”If she sleeps the whole way back it shouldn’t be too bad“ Jacob hummed, grabbing a block of chocolate and a bottle of anti-nausea pills, ”If we need to pull over for her, we can. We’re going to have to get used to her pain for the next few months.“  
”We have to be easier on her…“ The Baptist sighed, leaning against the side of the car, his gaze focused on the young woman mumbling in her sleep, as their friends barrelled off back towards the County, they were only two hours away and that meant winding gravel roads.   
”I’ll be there for dinner every night“ Jacob shrugged, adjusting the sleeping form so that she rested on him, ”All you two have to do during the day is keep her fed, bathed and alive.“   
”He’s already passing the dirty work onto us, I’m hurt“ Joseph smirked as he flicked the ignition on,   
John laughed as he slipped in beside his sister,   
”Wait until we put her through physiotherapy“ Jacob quipped, gently stroking Eva’s arm as she mumbled and writhed through a nightmare, ”I’ll set some judges and some chosen aside to guard the ranch in case if anything happens. I doubt they’ll try to strike again, but we’re all occupied with her and they might see this as their chance to attack.“  
”Why didn’t you just kill them there and then?“ Joseph asked quietly after a few minutes, everyone had known of the war between Jacob and the Whitetail Militia, and everyone had been shocked to hear that Eli had been left unharmed. The oldest Seed sighed, he kept the same rhythmic pattern of stroking his sister’s arm as he glanced out the window,   
”I want her to put a bullet through his head. After I saw her in that room with him, I knew this was her test. _If anyone is going to end this war, it’ll be Eva_.“   
  



	15. Chapter 15

The warming smell of coffee lured Eva back into the realm of reality, a thick blanket had been draped over her and the couch where she slept. It had been almost five days since she had returned and she had grown used to the roster of her brother's lives,  
“What’s on the agenda today?” She mumbled as two of John’s chosen helped her up,  
“Ms. Eva today is the Father’s sermons” One smiled as she pouted sadly,  
“Is John going to help me get ready?” She frowned,  
“He’s running a bath for you now” The other gave her smile as they gently lead her to John’s bedroom. Her bruises had begun to fade, revealing more scars that had been hidden, much to her brother's distaste.  
“It’ll be nice to see you back at church Ms. Eva” The men hummed, as they knocked on the Baptists door,  
“You can bring her in” John’s annoyed tone rang through from somewhere on the other side,  
“Eh, gotta keep my brothers happy” She shrugged, her tired gaze landing brother - lounging on his bed, phone in his hand.  
“You look like hell Evie” He tutted, taking a second to peer at her,  
“This is what happens when you’re related to King John and he’s beautifully pristine” She mused, limping over to lie on the edge of his bed, “Can I sleep on your bed?”  
“I don’t think the Father would approve, Ms. Eva” The chosen chuckled as they returned to their posts,  
“Let’s get you cleaned and rebandaged” John smiled, easily pulling her small form up, “At the communal, you might get followers trying to give you hugs and such, did you want me to put some guards around you?”  
Eva frowned, she didn’t want to be swarmed by people offering hugs and kisses, but she also didn’t want to be seen as rude and ignorant by her brothers,  
“Maybe if you four need to do your preachy stuff… I want to have some sort of company - since you stole Luca from me” Eva sighed, watching her pup sleep happily on John’s pillows as she was carried off towards his luxurious bathroom.  
  
John and Eva had managed to get her bathing down in an easy routine - John helped her undress and eased her into the tub, carefully minding the cast on her leg and wrist.  
“You’re looking a lot better though” He hummed from behind her as he carefully washed her back and hair, mentally taking note of any wound that was still red and tender,  
“Everything still hurts but I’m feeling a bit better, I want to try eating a bit more tonight if that okay?” She hissed as he brushed over a particularly nasty cut, winding down from her midback along towards her ribcage at the front.  
“Well you’ve worked your appetite up well, we were proud of you last night” He smiled as he grabbed a large towel for her, “You almost finished your bowl of pasta and you seemed to sleep a bit better.”  
Eva hummed contently as John lifted her onto a small bench before he applied fresh bandages,  
“I saw you slip me some sleeping pills, Johnny” She craned her neck to catch the shocked look on his face,  
“Your nightmares were keeping you up and we were concerned about exhaustion” He winked, ruffling her hair up, “Your fresh clothes are beside you, I’ll be getting ready if you need me.”  
Eva hummed glancing at the clothes John had laid out for her, a grey singlet and black pants - easier said than done to put them on. After a few minutes of trying to rearrange herself, she managed to get on the singlet,  
“Why don’t they make clothes for injured people, that’d be nice” She huffed as she tried to slip her leg into the pants.  
  
“Uh…Eva, it’s been almost fifteen minutes” John knocked on the door as she let out an exasperated grunt in return. He peaked around, find her lying on the ground, trying to shimmy into the pants, “Do you need any help, sweetie?”  
She shot him a harsh glare, pouting as she gave up her fight with the pants,  
“I can’t get them on…” She mumbled in defeat, as John wrapped his arms around her torso, pulling her to her feet,  
“Cause you tried to put them on backward” He chuckled as he helped her pull them on properly, “We still have a bit of time before we need to go, so let's get you some breakfast while I fix your hair.”  
  
She shivered slightly, sitting beside Jacob in the darkened church, even with one of John’s jackets on, it was still cold. Her hand slipped over to the scarred arm of her eldest brother, who gently took it in his hand.  
“You okay?” He whispered, his gaze flickering over her scars and wounds,  
“A little sore… These chairs are digging into one of the wounds” She murmured, trying to adjust herself against the wooden seat. Jacob slipped his other arm around her waist, pulling her over onto his lap,  
“Service is almost over, I’ll get Joseph to grab you something more comfortable.”  
She sighed happily into the warmth of her brother, her gaze focused on Joseph as he preached to his followers. She could see why people were so fixated by Joseph’s sermons, he had a way of keeping everyone on the edge of their seats. he could smooth talk his way out of anything if he desired.  
_’Perhaps he took lessons from John…I wouldn’t be surprised, they can both make people succumb to their words’_ She thought, as Jacob shifted her slightly. The squeal of pews being pushed back and heavy footsteps caused Eva to jolt slightly in Jacob’s grasp as she peered over his shoulder,  
“Kitten, you look sleepy” He hummed, as she rested her head on his chest,  
“Is it normal to be sleepy when injured?” She stifled a yawn as she rubbed her bleary eyes,  
“Side effects of your medication. Don’t worry, the church is over for the day ” Jacob gave his family a small nod of reassurance as they approached the pair, “Do we have something a little more comfortable for her? She mentioned the chair was digging into her wounds.”  
Joseph cupped Eva’s benignly, his eyes flickering around to the small scars littering her face,  
“You are doing well, just a few more hours and we can do whatever you wish for”  
Eva smiled meekly, resting her cast covered hand on Joseph’s cheek,  
“Joeybear, I would like sleep and a more comfortable chair…or my favorite chair, Jacob can stay with me.”  
  
Eva sat on a chair, partially in the sun, watching as the folks of Eden’s Gate _enjoyed_ their time, swimming, running, having a blast. She hated to admit that she was _envious -_ She could already hear John clicking his tongue, telling her about how she’d have to confess that to him before he could free her from sin. The heralds were clustered in a small group, having a good time with another group of churchgoers, she recognized a majority of them as the Chosen and their families.  
Sighing heavily, Eva watched the trees sway in the gentle breeze, her body had begun to cramp up and hurt and she knew that John had the medicines on himself. The laughter and cheer of the people around her made her feel unwanted. She glanced around, another group were in the midst of grilling a variety of meats on a group of barbeques. The strong scent of the different marinades made her stomach churn, as she shuffled to avoid being downwind of it.  
“You know, I never took you as the envious type” The familiar click of the Baptist caused her to freeze,  
“Well, Johnny, why don’t we break your leg and then you can join me on the throne of envy, hmm?” She pouted, eyeing him carefully,  
“You should’ve said something and I would’ve moved you closer to the group” John tutted, hooking his arm under Eva’s legs carefully,  
“You were all talking so loud” She whined quietly,  
“Well the food is about to be served, and you need to tell us what you want so we can get you something.” He hummed in her ear as he carried her to the herald's table, a bench seat had been placed at one end - courtesy of Joseph - for her to sit on.  
“I’m not really hungry, John…” Eva began, as he cut her off,  
“You barely had anything for breakfast, Evie. You need to eat…” The Baptist easily adjusted his sister as he carefully placed her down, “I’ll tell you what, I’ll just get a little bit of everything and you can sift through and eat what you like!”  
“That’s not what….And he’s gone” Eva sighed, watching as her brother disappeared into a crowd of people, “Why do I even bother with him…”  
  
She held back a gasp as John placed a plate laden with food in front of her,  
“You… certainly weren’t kidding…” She flinched, as she peered at the array of meats, rice, pasta, and vegetables,  
“I personally made sure to only give you a little bit” John smiled triumphantly as Joseph chuckled,  
“Be a good girl and eat a little bit. You still need to take your meds.”  
She prodded at a small bit of chicken with her fork, not wanting to make a fool of herself by using a knife with her cast covered hand,  
“If you ask nicely, I’ll cut it up for you” Jacob hummed, slipping beside her with his own plate,  
“You would be oh so kind to help your darling little sister?” Eva gasped in awe,  
“Enough of the theatrics and moping about and maybe you can spend tomorrow with me, hmm?” Jacob watched her carefully as he began to slice through the meat,  
“Do I get a wolf friend?” Eva frowned as she took a small bite of the food, wincing as she tried to keep it down,  
“Well your little pack is still at the Veteran's center, they can come along for the ride.”  
  
“You did good today” Joseph hummed, stroking Eva’s hair gently as they sat around playing some board games, the heralds had all been impressed with the way she worked up more of an appetite. She eyed him sleepily as she snuggled in closer, pressing her head against his chest,  
“Kitten’s sleepy again” Jacob mused from across the table, “Want me to tuck you in Evie?”  
Eva waved him off with a yawn,  
“I wanna watch you play the game” She mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she tried to act more alert and awake.  
John chuckled as he pulled a blanket off the counter, as Faith pulled the mug of hot cocoa away from the tired girl. They thought board games would be a little more fun for Eva, as she had watched movies almost nonstop since she moved into the ranch. Faith had made homemade hot cocoa and everyone was pleasantly surprised to see Eva take a few small sips.  
“Don’t forget about her doctors visit this week” The Siren glanced at John, with a faint smile,  
“It’s in two days, midmorning. I haven’t forgotten” The Baptist chuckled, moving around to lay the blanket over the near sleeping form. As soon as the blanket made contact with her, she shuffled slightly as she adjusted herself comfortably, a heavy sigh of content as she reentered the sandman's Realm,  
_“We’re proud of you Evie”_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16   
  
“Do I have to go?” Eva sighed as Joseph lifted her into the car, his strong grip not slipping as she squirmed,  
“If you ask me that again, I’ll leave you at the clinic and make you walk home, Eva” He sighed as John and Jacob slipped in beside her,   
“You already tried to escape…” John tutted,   
“Well, I didn’t escape…” Eva defended, pouting at the two men sandwiching her in the back seat,   
“A valiant effort to crawl back to the ranch, but you’re not that fast kitten.”   
She shuffled uncomfortably, as she brushed off little bits of gravel from her weak escape attempt, it had been her third chance to get out of the doctors and she had failed,   
“Well I did succeed with locking myself in the bathroom so that was pretty good” She hummed smugly,   
“You’ve lost your privileges of locking the bathroom door. My men already took them out” John smiled, petting her head gently,   
“You’re also going to have guards watch you at all times, you thought locking us out was funny? We will punish you, Evie” Joseph warned, as he sped off towards the clinic,   
“Ahh, no. I am a mature young adult who doesn’t need any babysitters” Eva hissed, staring at the road in front of them,   
“Mature?” John laughed, “Eva, you can’t even walk right now - until your leg heals, you _need o_ ur help”  
Eva sighed in defeat, leaning heavily into John as she averted her gaze,   
“I’m not used to accepting help… Maybe I wanna try to do it on my own”   
“Until you can walk and we see you improving, you live at the ranch under our rules” Jacob pet her leg gently.  
  
Eva frowned as she was lifted into the wheelchair, she hated to admit how _useless_ she felt since she had been freed. She had struggled to keep her facade up as she watched her brothers train earlier in the morning, she was certain that if she brought it to their attention they would shrug it off.  
“Can I at least go to the appointment alone?” She huffed, glaring at Joseph, as he pushed her into the small clinic,  
“No Eva, we need to know how you are progressing and if there is anything more we can do. After your little stunts this morning, we’re staying with you” Joseph hummed, as he eyed the small clinic carefully,   
“I’m not your prisoner, brother. I want to go back to work with Mary and I want to see my friends” Eva demanded, giving John a small flick on the leg with her good hand,   
“The more you do that the more minutes you’ll rack up” The Baptist warned, that familiar unreadable smirk made her shiver in discomfort,   
“You’re putting me in timeout? Oh my god John…” Eva scoffed, “This is your oneway ticket to losing me for good.”   
“Keep up your ‘ _I’m too good for you_ ’ act and we’ll start treating you the way you’re treating us” Jacob warned, his harsh glare reminded Eva of when she misbehaved as a child - if it was severe, he’d pull her over his knee, although that only happened a couple of times.   
  
Eva’s gaze skimmed over the pages of her notes as John smoothly chatted with the doctor as though they were catching up at a party,   
“Whoa… No working for half a year. You’re shitting me” Eva groaned,   
“Well after your leg heals, Ms. Eva, you can do light work but we’re really waiting on your ulna to heal. It wasn’t a clean snap at all, which is why you need to be careful while carrying things” The doctor smiled as she frowned,   
“How long ‘til I can live alone again?” She almost pleaded, wanting to get out of the hell that was her overprotective brothers,   
“When your casts come off you can” The doctor hummed contently, skimming over her files  
“You mean I’m under fucking house arrest with the three musketeers until then?” Eva hissed, her anger bubbling away like a volcano ready to erupt,   
“He is doing his best, Eva” Jacob snapped, one arm forcing the frustrated woman to stay still,   
“You don’t fucking get it, Jacob!” Eva growled, struggling to get on her feet as she fought back, “I don’t _want_ to be reliable on you. I want to be independent!”  
“Eva! We can discuss this when we get home” Joseph hissed, his gaze darkening as he sighed, “Until then, you sit there quietly and let the grown ups do the talking, do you understand?”   
Eva felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment, she never had expected her brothers to act like their deadbeat parents - and she knew if she mentioned it, hell would break loose.   
“I’ll just continue being your little pawn, oh Father dearest” Eva mumbled, already planning revenge of her own.   
  
Eva felt miserable since the argument at the doctor's clinic, John had left her in the living room with two guards while he had buggered off with Jacob and Joseph.   
“I want to talk to them, please” She sighed, looking at the numerous books she had placed in a pile to read through,   
“They don’t want to talk to you right now, Ms. Eva” One guard apologized, already tensing up for a fighting match against the injured woman,   
“Oh, that’s fine, as long as they listen…” Eva shrugged, as she planned out her little revenge scheme. If she was going to be injured and under house arrest, one of her brothers at the very least - deserved at least get punched.   
“I’ll go talk with the Father…”  
  
Eva hummed contently as the guard returned with her brothers, she gave a meek smile to them as the Baptist approached her confidently,   
“You wanted to talk with us? After that little show this morning…” John whistled as he cocked his head slightly, “You don’t have very much time to talk.”   
“I’m…uh…sorry” She sighed sadly, watching her brothers warily, as John stepped a little bit closer,   
“Sorry for?” He pushed, as she suppressed the urge to yell at him again. John knew a way with words, and Eva knew that he could easily overpower her with them if he desired. “Sorry for being a bitch” She growled, balling her fists up, “And sorry for this.”  
With no warning, she rammed her fist into his side. Agonising pain jolted through her arm, as she glanced down - realizing she had tried to hit him with her injured arm.   
“That wasn’t very smart” John tutted as silence filled the room as all eyes were on Eva, tears welled in her eyes as a weak cry escaped from her throat, her legs threatened to buckle beneath her as John’s arms snaked around her waist, lowering her to the ground. Her injured arm throbbed in anguish as she clutched onto John, painful sobs escaping her,   
“Joseph, get the doctor here now!” The youngest Seed brother demanded, gently rubbing his waist where Eva had tried to punch him, he was thankful for his waistcoat suppressing most of the hit   
“She’s shifted it out of place” Jacob sighed, holding a cold compress to the reinjured wrist, “I think we’re going to have to find you a way to ease your anger without hurting yourself, kitten.”  
Eva made another hoarse cry of pain as John rubbed her back soothingly,   
“You’re okay sweetie” The Baptist soothed,   
“Joseph, did you get in contact?”   
“No answer” The Father muttered, resting his hand on Eva’s cheek. He frowned slightly, glancing over towards a few guards, “Could you grab her a blanket?”  
“There’s a medic working at the armory…” The Soldier began, “I’ll instruct him to get here if you two want to help her relax.”

  
“I’m sorry” Eva whimpered as fresh tears began to fall, John held her closely on his lap as he hummed soft tunes to her,   
“You’re doing well” Joseph smiled as Jacob returned with a few of his men, “Did you want another drink?”  
“Y-yes please…” Eva shakily reached out, her cheeks flushed from the rich oaky warmth of whiskey - a personal favorite from John’s well-stocked cabinet. Joseph helped her take another swig as the medic sat close to the group,   
“Has the pain subsided?” The Medic carefully watched Eva for any flinching and tensing as he ran his fingers down the cast, “We’ll need to replace this okay? So I need you to keep really still.”  
Eva numbly nodded, pressing her head into the crook of Joseph’s neck as Jacob carefully slipped his hunting knife down the length of the cast. A sharp hiss escaped her as the remnants of the cast were carefully removed from around her wrist,   
“You’re doing really well” John praised, pressing his fingers into her knotted muscles as he massaged her back,   
“It’s going to  hurt a little bit, kitten” Jacob soothed, holding another glass of whiskey to her lips, “We’re going to try to be quick about it”  
“You’re being very brave” Joseph cooed, tenderly holding her as Jacob and the medic pressed her wrist back into alignment. The Seed brothers continued to praise their little sister as the medic and the guards picked up the pace,   
“She’s probably going to wake with a hangover tomorrow” Jacob whispered as she skulled yet another glass of whiskey,   
“She had about five before you all arrived” John chuckled, as the new cast was set in place. He could already feel a bruise forming where she had hit him, thankful that she hadn’t used a weapon.   
“That explains why she didn’t feel too much of it” The medic smiled, elevating her wrist in a sling, “Keep it in a sling for a few weeks and see if she improves. Maybe plan little trips with her to stop all her pent-up frustration building up.”  
Jacob chuckled as he ruffled Eva’s hair, “Might bring her up to the armory and get you to give her a tour one day.”   
  
The brothers watched their intoxicated sister as the guards returned to their posts, she sat watching them through glassy eyes as she struggled to come up with words to form sentences,   
“You know…” Eva slurred sleepily, reaching out to grab onto Jacob as he scooped her up, “ _I lo…love you guys. Best brothers forever!”  
_ Joseph chuckled, stroking Eva’s hair softly, “Goodnight Evie. I’ll make you pancakes for breakfast if you’re good.”   
John and Jacob smiled as they bid their brother farewell, before lying their tired sister onto John’s bed. They slipped in beside her after prying off their boots and shirts, they could feel her slip into sleep as soon as they pulled the blankets over her,   
“ _We love you too, kitten”_


	17. Chapter 17

“Holy shit, you’re doing really well” Nick cheered as Eva pulled herself up, with the help of the Deputy and Jerome.   
“My brothers would slaughter you if they found out we were doing this” Eva chuckled, as she unsteadily took a few steps forwards, it had been almost three months since she had moved into John’s house and near a week since she had her cast removed. Throughout the day, she found herself up in the comfort of the Whitetail Mountains, where a small group of Chosen had been hand-picked by her brothers to help her get back on her feet again.   
“Well Jacob helps you throughout the day and we help you at night” Mary smiled, “Who knows, you might be ready for the party on Friday night”  
“At least you don’t have me running a little obstacle course. Oh shit, party… Did you invite my three dads and Faith? They’ll crash it with a bunch of those angels if we’re not lucky” Eva’s grip tightened on the Rook’s arm as she stumbled,   
“We sent John an invite in the mail, asking him to rsvp with any additional guests” Dep mimicked with a poncy accent.   
“He’ll bring the whole church  if you want him too” Eva winked as she managed to reach Mary at the other end of the bar,   
“You’re improving every day but don’t want to push yourself, darlin’.”  
“I won’t… I want to recover and do more stuff than redecorating John’s house… for the eighth time” Eva hummed, “He got so annoyed, he sent me to Faith for a day. So I helped her redecorate Edens Convent…”  
  
“What exactly are we doing here?” Eva hummed, clutching to Nick as he eased her down into the office at Drubman Marina,   
“We’re having a get-together. If you need to get home, I’ll drop you off” He smiled, guiding her inside. Drinks and snacks littered tables as board games and movies lay in lopsided piles,   
“No… It’s okay. Just got an assessment with the doctors tomorrow” She smiled as the resistance Slowly piled in.  
“There’s our princess!” Adelaide cheered, pulling Eva close for a hug, “Those brothers of your enjoy hiding you from the world”  
“Well, I was kidnapped for… who knows how long” She shrugged, as the faint scent of alcohol wafted through the air, “Uh… Is there anything non-alcoholic?”  
“Eva, I’ll keep an eye on you” Mary promised, as she handed over a bottle of water to her. “Knowing Nick, he’s going to get drunk. If you don’t feel good, I’ll take you home.”   
“…My brothers are going to kill me…” Eva sighed as Hurk nudged her gently,   
“Only if they find out!” He roared with laughter as Eva shivered at the thought of the Seed brothers finding out about her being at a party without their knowledge,   
“They always find out… I’m pretty sure their cult just follow me around when they aren’t preaching…”   
  
Eva slumped to the desk, watching closely as Nick challenged Grace to a drinking contest. After two beers, Eva had backed out of drinking - only sticking to water and the cooling pizza as the rest of the resistance went crazy for alcohol. Jerome and Mary sat on either side of her as they watched the pilot and the sharpshooter pile through the beers as Hurk and Sharky stepped in to help Rye out. Jess and Adelaide jumped into the drinking battle.  
“I thought we were going to have fun and play board games and watch movies…” Eva sighed as their six friends chowed into the beer,   
“Let them have their fun Eva” Jerome chuckled at the younger woman, who pouted in return,   
“But we have the other party coming up in a few days…”   
“Yes, but your brothers aren’t here now, they will be there at one on Friday.” He reminded her gently,   
“You mean if they ever let me out of the house again.”  
“We’ll break you out if we need too” Mary comforted as Adelaide cheered loudly, declaring victory over the men.   
“I don’t think you’ll be allowed on the property” Eva chuckled, itching her arm absentmindedly, “They’ve got more patrols around since I returned…”  
Jerome rubbed her back gently, ever since she had returned the cult patrols had gone up in number - especially around Holland Valley,   
“Well, they have caught a numerous amount of the Militia trying to attack” He soothed, “Better them getting caught than you getting captured again.”  
Eva whimpered at the thought of enduring four more months of constant torture and abuse, she had struggled to black it out from her memory. Only John knew of the nightmares that still tormented her and the sleepless nights she spent, curled up beside him in bed. She was certain Jacob had caught them in one of their 3 am ice cream sessions, but he had never mentioned it.  
“I’m nervous to move back into my house…” She mumbled, eyeing the group of her drunk friends now trying to set up a game of Scrabble,   
“Why not ask someone to move in with you?” Mary chuckled, watching the drunkards struggling to spell the most basic of words.   
“Everyone I know has a house already…”   
“Jess doesn’t. She just floats around” Jerome hummed,   
“I’ll ask when she sobered up a bit…”  Eva shrugged, stifling a yawn as she settled in to watch her comrades intoxicatedly argue over letters.   
  


“Where are you, Eva?” John’s voice growled through the phone, “It’s almost 1 am and you have to be up in less than 6 hours for your therapy session…”  
Eva gasped, only just noticing the time. She stumbled slightly across the mess of her friends, finding Jerome and Mary enjoying hot cocoa in a quiet corner.   
“I...I’m sorry I lost track of time…” She murmured, fumbling around to gather her belongings in a rush, “I’m on my way home now…”  
Mary and Jerome shot a frown at each other as the barmaid scribbled a note, telling their friends they were calling it a night, while the pastor nudged the drunken body of Nick.  
“You know, Joseph told me that I should lock you out as punishment… He’s right, I should” John hummed, “You have twenty minutes to get home or I will lock you out”  
“John please don’t…” Eva whined as memories of their childhood flooded back to her. Whenever their father was in a foul mood, John and herself were often forced to sleep outside, “I’m at the marina… I can’t make it home in twenty…”  
She slipped into Mary’s truck, following Jerome and Nick, as the barmaid floored it back towards Holland valley. They could hear John discussing something with his brothers,   
“You have twenty-five minutes, Evie.” Joseph’s voice replaced his younger brother,   
“Joseph please don’t do this… I’ll be home. I’m on my way now” She begged, knowing that they were not fooling around.

  
“Never thought I’d see you improve this fast” Joseph smiled as Eva staggered towards him,   
“I feel like I’m in a bloody dog show…” Eva sighed, fingers clawing at the Father’s back as she clutched onto him for support,   
“And I’d say you’re a pretty good bitch” John smirked as he pried her off his brother, “So you’re enjoying your nightly get-togethers? Kim Rye came by last night asking if we knew where Nick was”   
Eva shivered at the thought, she had barely made it in the door merely a few hours ago. The second she had arrived, they were lecturing her about keeping safe and not going out and getting drunk.  
“We had a few drinks up at the Drubman Marina…” Eva frowned, “I only had two beers… Nick got wasted, I think Jerome took him back to his.”  
“Only two, hmm?” Jacob prowled around her, “Go get your supplies. You’re making up for last night as well.”   
“I got home on time” Eva quipped, lightly shoving her red-haired brother as she fumbled past him,   
“You said you were going to be home at 11, Evie. Last I checked, 1 am is two hours later”   
“Oh! You learned maths! I’m proud of you!” She hummed playfully, shoving a spare change of clothes into a duffel bag,   
“I’m adding more squats to your routine” Jacob ruffled her hair as he grabbed her bag and his sniper, “Let’s go before you’re even later to your appointment.”   
  
“I really hate you right now Jacob” Eva hissed, back pressed firmly against the wall as she watched her oldest brother recline comfortably in his chair,  
“This is punishment for last night, kitten” He hummed, shooting a quick glance to Joseph and John who were watching from the kitchen “You should really be conversing your strength.”  
She groaned inwardly as she focused her gaze on the small timer in front of her,   
_‘Just ten more minutes of wall sits and I’m free from his stupid wrath…’_ She thought, already struggling to remember how long she had actually been doing them for.   
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this quiet” Joseph laughed as she hissed under her breath,   
“You’ve only been doing this on and off for almost two hours, Evie” John teased, they weren’t cruel enough to make her endure two full hours of it. Instead, they had opted for short periods where she could regain her strength in between each set of wall sits. She let out a groan of defeat as her legs buckled and she slipped to the ground with a thud, “Are you okay there Evie?” Jacob chuckled, moving over to help her up,   
“I don’t think I can walk” She panted, leaning dramatically into his arms for support,   
“Well, you never completed your final set. Which means either you get served another punishment or you restart this from the beginning” John smirked. Eva hissed drily, the thought of redoing two hours of wall sits made her feel sick,   
“I’m… too weak to do anymore” She panted, sweaty hands slipping around a cold bottle of water as Joseph passed it to her,   
“Most of the chosen can’t even do that, kitten” John purred, helping her into a chair as he pressed his fingers into her knotted muscles,   
“They can barely last 5 sets of ten minutes with a two-minute break in between. You lasted a lot longer than they did, kitten” Jacob hummed, the familiar eerie smile etched on his face,   
“That’s my punishment over, right?”   
_"Not even close, Evie.”_


	18. Chapter 18

Lights flashed a multitude of colours as eldritch silhouettes danced aimlessly at silent music. Flickering greens, blues and yellows drew her lifeless gaze towards the shadowed stage. Three men and a woman appeared in a blissful cloud of smoke as the dancing figures crumpled down to worship the godly people.   
_“You shouldn’t be here”  
_ One distorted voice cried, echoing around the room as decaying walls sprang up enclosing them all. It was only then she could smell that horrid scent of unclean wounds, grim, blood and God knows what else.   
_“Where is here?”  
_ She clutched her throat as no words came out,   
_“Little lamb, you are nowhere”  
_ The voice clicked, as the figures on stage flicked to life. The Heralds looked at her disapprovingly as a much larger cluster of smoke appeared above them with a Cheshire grin. Thorny vines crept around her arms and legs,   
_“Do not fight or you will suffer, Little lamb”  
_ The prickly vines dug deeply into her wrists and ankles as she was dragged to the front of the stage, all eyes flickering onto her as she was held in place. Voices hissed into life, like metal scraping on metal - deformed inputs twisting and warping as they spoke,   
_“Why do you resist us?”  
“Do you not love us?”  
“You are weak”  
_Their words circled her like wolves circling a lone fawn, each one hit her harder as she writhed in agony. She could feel herself lose all grip on reality as the voices began to boom again. _  
“You will not survive on your own”  
“Confess and you will atone”  
_They were reminiscent of the Heralds voices, almost a little too lifelike. Around her, the menacing figures shifted as they grew into ominous, lifeless trees. The stage and the heralds disappearing into rivers of crimson blood, black flames licked her as the vines burst into clouds of green hazes.   
_“Tick tock Lamb”  
_ The main distortion of a voice was back as she hurriedly looked around for her freedom, the newly formed trees covering any source of light,   
_“Watch out for the wolves, Lamb. It’s only a matter of time before you get caught again.”  
_ Wasting no time, she sprinted off into the thick of trees. The snarling of predatory animals made her realise she was not alone in this nightmarish hell,   
_“Run little Lamb, run before your big scary wolves kill you”  
_ Walls sprang up, mazing her deeper into the dead forest as she struggled to keep her pace up. Split decisions of appearing walls made her struggle as she could hear the howling of the pack behind her.   
_“Why are you running from us, Evie?”  
_ Eva whirled around wildly as walls boxed her in, the pack easily stepped through the walls as though they were never there. She could feel her breath hitch in her throat as two more figures stepped into life near the pack. Two faces she could never forget - the duo that had tormented her for endless weeks.   
_“Welcome back to hell, Eva.”  
_  
Eva’s terrified scream caused her to jolt up in a cold sweat, the soft whines of worried animals made her sigh heavily and pull herself up. It was her first night back at her house, her first night alone since the kidnapping. She blearily flicked on the lights as she shuffled down to the wolves and Luca, eyeing her sadly.   
“I’m okay babies…” She murmured, patting the couch as she slumped down into the thick of warm furs. One wolf nudged her phone on the coffee table with its snout,   
“I… don’t want them to know I can’t sleep… I know they said to call them, but I need to learn to do this on my own…”  
A chorus of disapproving barks made her frown as she tapped her phone,   
“It’s not even 2 am… They have the sermon tomorrow and they want me to go. I know they’d disapprove if I turned up looking like shit and they’d be angry if I missed it…”  
Luca pawed at the couch, as the wolves nudged a small picture of her and her brothers. It had been well before the kidnapping, of them - so full of life - at a bonfire. Many moons had passed and she sighed heavily as she eyed the picture carefully,   
“I’m just an empty shell of what I used to be… I don’t know if I can be _me_ again…”  
  
A sharp knock at the door caused Eva to jump, she hadn’t moved from the couch since she had been startled awake by her nightmare. She pulled herself up, shivering from the crisp morning air,   
“You look like shit, Eva” John hummed, pushing his way into the house, “Did you sleep well?”  
Eva frowned, watching John as he paced into her kitchen carefully. He easily put the pieces together, no steaming coffee, the empty look in her eye and the sullen expression that she wore on his face.   
“Did you sleep at all Eva?” The Baptist tutted, silently creeping back towards the younger girl,  
“I’ve…been up since 2 am…I had this nightmare…” She shuddered, avoiding Johns gaze as he stepped closer, fingers grazing against her scarred arms.  
“Why didn’t you call one of us?” His voice soft as he pulled his little sister in for a hug, “You don’t need to suffer sleepless nights, Evie. We told you if you needed company, one of us would come over and stay…”  
“I wanted to be independent” She whimpered, tears threatened to fall as she recalled the horrors of her sleep, “I can’t be alone John… I’m scared they’ll come for me again.”   
The baptist glanced over at the clock, knowing that he’d be in trouble for missing the sermons, his brotherly instincts took over as he pulled Eva onto his lap as he traced patterns into her back. He hummed softly as she clutched his shirt, softly retelling him about her terrors.   
  
John hummed as he took a sip of coffee, his shirt - damp in some parts - where her tears had soaked through. She eyed him through unkempt hair as his hand never left her back,   
“Why don’t you just ask for one of us to move in?” His blue gaze met her blank green stare, “You are hurting yourself right now, kitten…”   
Eva gulped as she shuffled closer to her brother, her one cast covered hand gently sat around his wrist,   
“No one ever taught me how…” She mumbled after a few minutes, meeting his gaze once again, “Everyone always came to me with their problems and never once asked if I needed help, John. I’ve only had good sleep when I’m with you and our brothers. I don’t want to come across as needy.”  
“Eva, why do you build this wall of facade around you?” John cooed, his fingers gently untangling her messy hair, his gaze darting around reading her expression carefully,   
“It’s all I’ve ever been taught” Eva whispered as the Baptist’s expression didn’t falter, she could see how he was in the position he was in.  
John frowned as his phone started to ring, they peered over as they noticed it with the Father,   
“He’s going to be grumpy” John chuckled, as he answered it,   
“John, brother. The sermon is about to begin and you aren’t here…” Joseph began as John gathered his jacket,   
“I came to get Eva, only to find out she was up all night with night terrors”   
“Is she okay? I can come past after church if she wished to have a nap” Joseph murmured sadly as he began to think of all the ways he could try to protect his sister,   
“We can be at church in twenty minutes, brother” John hummed, gently ushering Eva off to get prepared. He watched as she darted off towards the bathroom for a shower as he took a swig of his cooling coffee, “You had visions about her again, didn’t you Joseph?”  
The Baptist didn’t need confirmation, he could easily hear it in the tone of the Father’s voice - they had all seen the vision of Eva trapped under the Whitetail Mountains, yet they had not believed it until she had been found.   
“I fear she is not safe until they are eradicated, John. Our men found a group of sinners approaching her house late last night, near 2 am” Joseph took a few moments to regain his composure, “Is that not the time she suffered her terrors?”  
John hissed inwardly, scribbling a note to put more guards on watch as he glanced around, thinking about more ways to protect his sister,   
“That’s the time she told me she was up. Ask Jacob if he wishes to move in with Evie, even for a short period of time… Until we can find someone more suitable… Like Jess or the Deputy.”   
  
Eva hissed as the crisp cold air of the county stung her face as John fiddled around with the windows on his car, a cheeky grin etched onto his fingers as he noticed her discomfort. She pouted, leaning forward to flick through the radio stations, purposely lingering on bad renditions of some of the cult’s classic hits.   
“Joseph’s a little annoyed we’re late, so you stand there and be pretty and let me do the talking” John nudged her playfully as he pulled up at the compound,   
“I hope he doesn’t mind that I look like hell from almost three hours of sleep” She tutted, following his lead as he led her around the back of the church. He could hear the soft mumbling of prayers being said as he slipped inside, unnoticed by all but the heralds. John gave a small nod as he tugged her into a chair near him, his hand lingered on her back as Joseph slowly wrapped the sermons up.  
“Brothers and sisters, I believe the militia wishes to harm us and so I wish to warn you all to be careful while entering the Whitetail Mountains” Joseph’s voice turned harsh as he began to recall the blood of his younger sister as Jacob carried her limp, lifeless body months ago, “We know they have become more dangerous. Their numbers grow day by day as their incursion threatens to thwart those who stand in their way.”   
Eva frowned, eyeing Jacob and John for confirmation, the burning rage that had filled her once, slowly bubbled back to life. It was the fire she had within her that had made her torturous endure worse than it should’ve been,   
“This is my fight, Joseph” Eva began, as everyone's gaze shifted onto her. Silence filled the church as she rose from her seat, hidden for what seemed to be an eternity. She stepped towards the Father as he watched her curiously, his hands meeting hers as she reached for him,   
_“We’re a family, brother. This may be my fight, but the war that will follow is ours.”_


	19. Chapter 19

The nightmares had eased dramatically after she moved into the Veteran Centre throughout the week, it made it easier for her brothers to keep track of how she was improving. Jacob had her training on a course separate to his men, he had seen her struggle running it in her spare time.  
His rough, calloused hands brushed over her shoulder gently as she followed his orders carefully,   
“How many sets have you done today, kitten?” His gravelly voice pulled her from the intense painstakingly, intense Workout that many men had been killed in,   
“Sixth” Eva hissed as he helped her down off the platforms carefully, the scars of the attack now hidden behind John’s handiwork,   
“You’ve completed the challenges six times?” He hummed in approval, “You have gun training with Grace and the Deputy tomorrow.”  
“I don’t think I need the training to relearn to shoot, Jacob” Eva frowned, keeping whatever was left of her pride close,   
“Seeing as though you could barely aim a bow with Jess, Eva… You need training” Jacob shoved her back towards his office, “Don’t forget the deal you signed with us. Until we see your improvements And we think you are ready to take care of yourself, we’re your guardians.”  
His sister scoffed as she pulled the doors open to his office, her fingers wrapped around the small music box as she rolled her eyes. His gaze narrowed as he watched her carefully, knowing that if she opened it, half the men in the general area would start pouncing at each other's throats like a bunch of hyenas fighting over the last scraps of meat. “Eva, put that down” Jacob commanded, his glare turning stone cold as she carefully plonked it down again, “You don’t know what it’s used for…”  
“I know you’ve used this on me” She began, meeting his cold stare, “I think I was out of line, being the rightful little bitch I am sometimes…”   
He scoffed, “Sometimes, kitten? This is why we’re your guardians and you don’t have free rein.”  
  
Eva groaned as the recoil bucked worse than she remembered, earning a chuckle from Grace as she grinned,   
“You’re as bad as Rye was when I gave him sniper lessons” Armstrong chuckled as she wrapped an arm around Eva, gently adjusting the woman to help her stabilIse the shot, “You’ve gotten better with handguns, shotguns and assault rifles. Just need you to get a bit better with bows and snipers and we’ll have you back in action.”   
Eva tensed as she aimed down the sights, carefully watching the mannequins of Prosperity through her scope. Timing her breathing, she steadied her aim - firing a near perfect shot into the mannequin’s head,   
“Damn, I missed the target” Eva grumbled as she pulled herself off the shed roof, kicking the broken plastic in frustration,   
“Better than the four windows you broke earlier” Grace chimed, patting the woman’s shoulder gently, “You are improving,  I know your brothers don’t really praise you as often as they should. Some of the folks in Fall’s End thought you were going to die at that hospital…”   
Eva eyed the rolling hills surrounding the Henbane as she leaned back into her comrade gently. She had heard the whispers around the county on some of her strolls, the notes that had been left behind about bets that were made over her life.   
“Did you think I was going to survive?…” Eva’s hoarse voice broke the blissful silence after a few minutes,   
“Before we found you, I thought you were going to wind up in a bliss-induced cave or wash down a river in the next storm…” Grace began, resting her head on Eva’s shoulder peacefully, “When Jacob brought you into the bar, I knew you were going to fight to stay alive…”   
“Do you think my brothers would’ve started a war if I died?”   
“They started a war looking for you. Houses were burnt and people were killed under their word…” Grace frowned as she pulled away, slipping Jacob’s rifle off Eva as she inspected it carefully, “I went to the ranch during the time you were… away, and John and I had a good talk. He could barely sleep, let alone think straight…”   
“Well, we didn’t have the best upbringing, Jacob and Joseph often mitigated the pain that our parents brought down upon us… Often locking us in the closet so we couldn’t be beaten” Eva mumbled, recalling the countless of times old man Seed had stumbled home, too wasted to see straight or too high to know what was up and down. Whenever their father came home in either state, he was violent - their mother was just some deadbeat wife who added to their pain and suffering.  
“Guess that’s why they’re protective of you” The sniper mused contently,   
“Well… when we got sent to the foster family, John and I were often sent to school with no food and we were only allowed to eat the scraps they gave us” Eva scoffed, “John and Jacob were the two ones I could trust, Joseph and I…We just never seemed to get along. I think he wanted it to be the three of them and two years after John, I was an accident that appeared.” Grace chuckled as she handed the well-used rifle back to Eva,   
“Well, he cried a lot when you were taken. Apparently, he had these visions of you in a cell…”   
“Well, at least he got that right” Eva cut her off, not wanting to go into the depths of the painful predicament she had endured, “Let’s head back? I’ve got to work at the Spread Eagle in a few hours and I don’t think Mary would appreciate me covered in gunpowder.”  
  
The chirping of the crickets and the low bustle of the remaining patrons of the Spread Eagle made Eva hum contently with whatever was playing over the radio. It was all the regular customers; Nick, Kim, Dep and Jerome had a booth to their own, while Adelaide, Grace, Jess, Sharky and Hurk sprawled out over a small group of tables.   
“Eva, could we get another round, darlin’?” Adelaide called, waving at her younger friend,   
“Coming right up, Addie” She smiled, as she pulled out a drink to each of her friend's tastes,   
“John hasn’t come yet” Mary hummed gently in Eva’s ear, “Stay here until he comes to pick you up, alright?”   
She nodded gently, as she made her way over - dishing out everyone’s favourite drinks as she collected their empty bottles in return.   
“Did you want any snack, Nick? You have gone through three bowls of fries already” Eva tutted, grinning cheekily at her pilot friend,   
“It’s not my fault Rook steals them all!” Nick laughed, patting Eva on the arm, “Get me two this time so Rook can have their own.”   
“Hey, Kim and Jerome stole that whole bowl last time” Dep shot back with a laugh,   
Eva bit back her laugh as she strolled back to place her friend's orders,   
“You’re a strange group” Eva smirked, scribbling down orders on a small notepad   
“You’re the one whose friends with us, Eva. What does that say about you?” Kim laughed, causing the three sleeping fang friends to become startled. Eva hummed quietly, as she slipped some bacon on the grill for her animals friends.   
  
“You’re looking too well” A voice chuckled as another scoffed, as Eva handed the snacks to her friends. She had already given the Fangs bowls of kibble and some bacon, making Hurk and Sharky complain about their lack of food. Eva felt the colour drain from her face as she noticed Nick already reaching for his gun, she could hear her other friends cock their weapons as Mary slipped around the bar.   
“I didn’t think you were welcome here” Eva smiled, turning to face the two people who had tortured her for days on end in the Whitetails,   
“Oh, we enjoy checking in on you” Tammy smirked, eyeing her carefully, “Annoying that your brothers have you under lock and key. I miss pressing knives into your flesh.”   
“Well you could try stabbing _yourself_ , maybe that’ll make you feel better” Nick suggested, standing beside his inked friend warily.   
“That’s not very nice” Eli chuckled, taking a step towards Eva, “I’d rather we rid this county of the Seeds and reclaim what was ours.”   
“I like how you think coming after myself is going to stop my brothers” Eva began, as she touched the hilt of the hunting knife Jacob had forced onto her. She could feel her terrors bubbling away as she watched her former tormenters carefully. She knew they could her fear and she hoped that her brothers would arrive before they tried to attack. “We managed to shut your brothers up for a few months, all they did was kill a couple of people and ruin some houses” Eli quipped, taking another step forward as he smirked, “You always looked so much _prettier_ Bleeding out on the bunker floor.” A hoarse gasp escaped Eva as the images flooded back of the torture chamber she was locked in, day in day out. The phantom pain etched its way back into her body as she clutched Nick’s back in shock,   
“If I were you two, I’d get out of here” John’s voice hissed through the air, as he stormed into the bar with his men at his side. Jacob and Joseph followed suit, positioning themselves between Eva and her tormentors.   
  
She shakily reached out to whoever was nearest to her, somewhere along the lines the argument had become nothing more than white noise. Her breathing was nothing more than weak gasps as she clawed at Jess’s jacket, hot tears streaming down her face as she struggled to control her breathing. The blurry faces of Nick and Jess were flickering into her peripheral vision while the rest was just a mess of reds and haze. A cold bottle was pressed to her lips as Nick struggled to get her to drink,   
_“Eva, c’mon drink up”  
_ She could see his mouth moving and no words were coming out. Blankly, she nodded, slowly taking small gulps of the cool water.   
_She’s alright, just coming down from a panic attack”  
_ This time it was Jacob’s face who entered her vision, his rough hands gently wiped away her tears. Eva wrapped shaky hands around his forearm as he smiled softly at her, “They’re gone.”   
His voice was still crackly from the white noise, but she nodded as she understood him. He ran one hand through her hair, smoothing it down as he held her close. He could feel her heart racing as she fought off her anxieties, her eyes blinking rapidly as she slowly returned to reality, _“  
I’m sorry…” _She gasped, her voice weak and hoarse, “ _I’m so sorry…”  
_ “It’s okay” Jess smiled, patting her back as Jacob easily lifted her to her feet. Eva reached out to steady herself between the Huntress and her eldest brother,   
_“None of this is your fault, we’re going to help you get through this.”_


	20. Chapter 20

Faith and Eva laughed happily as they strolled contently along the banks of a river, the two women had grown close over the course of the last few months,  
“You know, it’s nice having another woman around” Faith smiled, lacing her hand with the older woman’s as she tugged her along,  
“Another woman?” Eva chuckled,  
“A lot of them hate me for being apart of Eden’s Gate” Faith mumbled sadly, “I was baking cookies and I ran out of sugar so I went door knocking and none of them gave me any!” “That’s just cruel, who deprives one of baking, Faith? I’ll go teach them a lesson!” Eva frowned at the thought, as she remembered how many civilians were afraid of the church’s influence. The reds and oranges of the sunset reflected on the rippling waters of the river as Faith twirled in the remaining rays of the sun,  
“Joseph told me there was a chance you would shy away from us…”  
“Well, I was never very welcoming of their partners. Back before I was adopted out, Joseph had some really weird clingy girlfriend who despised my existence” Eva chuckled, “I fell over and grazed my hands and legs while he had been out on a date and Jacob was deployed… So John called him, our parents were out being the drunken slobs they were.”  
“And she wasn’t happy that Joseph came back home for you?” Faith giggled as she led Eva up the banks and through the bushes,  
“I was crying and had gravel in my wounds. So Joseph turns up with this bitch as she starts yelling at him to get her a drink. I had never seen him snap like he did that day, and John and I heard some words we swore to never say again” Eva shrugged as she followed Faith closely. She hadn’t trusted the Faith at first and had slowly eased up after the younger Herald had spent a few nights at hers - much to her brother's delight.  
  
  
The two women walked in blissful serenity as the sun dipped behind the mountains and the moonlight lit their path. Faith shuffled closer as she shivered, her dress and lack of shoes not providing her with much warmth,  
“I’ll talk to Joseph, but I’m going to take you clothes shopping, girly” Eva tutted as she shrugged out of her jacket and pulled it over the Siren’s shoulders,  
“Do you think he’d….”  
“It gets cold at night, Faith. You could catch a cold or something” Eva cut her off, as she took the lead, “Let’s return to my car and I’ll stop and buy you a pizza on the way back to your compound.”  
“It’s not that far to walk…” Faith began, gesturing to the large bunker merely a few minutes up the hill,  
“And my car is right there, across the road” Eva smiled, nudging the blonde woman gently, “At least let me be nice for once. Make big brother Joseph happy,” The Siren hummed, pursing her lips as she thought of the arrangement carefully,  
“Fine” She sighed after a few minutes, “Only because you mentioned pizza.”  


“Evie, have you seen Faith in the last few days?” Joseph’s panic filled voice crackled through her radio, one lonely evening,  
“No? Was I supposed to catch up with her? I hung out with her after your sermons on Monday night, but that was six days ago” Eva hummed as she recalled the walks she had taken with the Siren.  
“Angels attacked her compound four nights ago in some frenzy, but she hasn’t been seen since. We’ve sent out scouts and there’s no sign of her” The Father mumbled in sorrow, “She won’t survive in the wilderness.”  
“I’ll go out looking” The inked woman declared, whistling for Luca and her wolves,  
“It’s late Eva, go in the morning. We’ll join you -”  
"Get John out there in his plane, and get Jacob to send out helicopters. I’ll get the resistance in on it too” Eva clicked, strapping a sniper to her back and attaching pistol holsters to her thighs,  
“What if you get attacked, Eva?” Joseph hummed, knowing how determined she could get if she needed to be,  
“I’ll take my phone and radio, Joseph. I’ll search around the Henbane, down to the forests in the far south. If the pups cant pick up her scent, I’ll call you.”  
“Eva… I’ll pray that Faith and you return in safe hands” Joseph sighed as he clicked his radio off.  
  
  
Sighing heavily, Eva rummaged through her supplies as she eyed a scruffy map of the river, the wolves paced in circles around her car as Luca sat happily in her backpack. “Okay fluffballs, we’re going to search some of the abandoned houses around here to try and pick up a scent. Remember, we sit if we don’t smell anything and we bark if we do” Eva instructed as the pack of canines nuzzled the backs of her legs as a reply,  
“I take that as a yes.”  
Eva pulled the bag onto her shoulders as Luca poked her head out of the opened zip, her sniper firmly attached to the side of Luca’s cozy perch. The pack of wolves ran ahead, darting in and out of trees as they sniffed around for any scent of the lost Herald, swiftly taking out any stray Angels they came across. The thick smog of bliss and burning wood stung at Eva’s eyes as she slipped a bandana around her face, to keep the particles of the hallucinogenic flowers out of her system.  
“I’m gonna tell my brothers they have to burn the hell out of the bliss…” She hissed, pulling on sunglasses to protect her eyes from the sting, “I swear if I become one of the zombie Bitches, you all have permission to tear me apart.”  
Carefully stepping around the lifeless corpses of the angels, Eva and her wolves made their way through the bushlands, finding the source of the smoke. The Siren’s compound sat high on its hilly perch, smoke billowing from the burning bliss fields nearby as guards trudged around, stacking the bodies of their comrades onto the flatbeds of pickups - ready to be shipped to Angels Grave. The front gate buckled on its hinges from the breach as a group of Joseph’s engineers were trying to create a makeshift one to last until they could fix the damaged metals. “I see why my brothers are worried…” Eva murmured, crouching behind a boulder as she took a moment to watch how distraught some of Faith’s men and women were, a small campfire as a few sat around for warmth.  
 _'Help me Faith, help me Faith_  
 _Shield me from sorrow_  
 _From fear of tomorrow’_  
Eva smiled sadly, ruffling the fur of one the wolves as the melodic tune of Faith’s song split the empty quietness of the night,  
“I’ve never seen them look so… distraught. They’ve lost their families, loved ones and… Faith.”  


Eva stretched, as the sunrise broke through the canopy of leaves and tree branches - the wolves and Luca happily chomped down on a deer they had caught as they rested for a bit. Having searched a majority of the inland cabins with no sightings or scents had made the group dishearted.  
“Evie, you there?” John’s sleepy voice drew Eva back to reality as she heard Joseph and Jacob call out for her through the radio,  
“Oh group meeting!” Eva yawned as she leaned onto the back of her car, “I’m here brothers…”  
“Wolves picking up nothing in the Whitetails” Jacob grunted, “Went as far down as the taxidermy.”  
“There has been no sightings around any of the islands and shores” Joseph hummed sadly as Eva shivered at the thought of Faith, lost in the thick scrub of the county.  
“Rye and I were out scouring the valley, even with search parties on foot, we found nothing” John tutted,  
“She wouldn’t run to the mountains” Eva shuddered as the bitterly cold morning winds picked up, her fingers tracing areas she had yet to search. Exhaustion riddling her body as she pulled her up for the search to continue, “Faith _knows_ She wouldn’t survive in the mountains. Someone would’ve seen her if she made it across the bridge and into Holland Valley. If anything, she would hide out in a cabin or tent until she thought it was safe.”  
“You’re pretty good at this, Evie” Jacob chuckled, “I’ll go as far down as the Misery. John, think you can handle the skies with Rye again?”  
John scoffed at the thought, knowing that he was in for a world of small talk with the rival pilot,  
“I’m sure I can survive one last flight with him…”  
“Good, Joseph, send men all across the east and west. Take central and stick to the grounds around Faith’s compound” Jacob ordered, as he began rounding up a large pack of judges to send all across the river region, “Eva, take the far south banks. If anyone finds her, radio in.”  
“You got it brothers, update me with anything you find?” Eva hummed in agreement, whistling for her canines to get prepared,  
_“Let’s go find us Faith.”_


	21. Chapter 21

Eva slipped into the cover of trees as she scrounged in her bag for a snack and a drink of water, it had been almost 18 hours since she had received the alert from Joseph, now it was nearing mid-afternoon and the hike was straining her muscles. The canines all pawed around, drying blood coated their muzzles from the deer they had killed - always allowing the honorary Pack member, Luca to take her fill. The radio calls had fallen silent as they struggled to search through the sweltering heat, trying to find signs of their lost comrade. Eva grunted as she rested her back against a tree, switching on her radio to keep updated. It had taken the whole valley four months to find her when she was missing, but that was only because she was well hidden.  
  
“Still nothing in the north” The gravelly growl of Jacob made Eva tense as the chatter of her brothers brought her back to reality. She had moved further through the forest after her little break, her pack had picked up on scents and were now crouching as they shuffled their way through the thick groves. Eva could feel the change in the air as the wolves dashed ahead of her. Fumbling around for her radio as she broke into a sprint to keep up,   
“Eva?” Joseph’s voice began to speak as she raced through the shadowy woods, trying to keep her eye on the pack in front of her. Remembering Jacob’s training, she used her size to her advantage, slipping in between narrow gaps and jumping over stray logs and boulders as a clearing began to form around her. The delicate fabric and flowers of Faith’s skirt blissfully fluttered in the wind, stuck to the bristly bush that had become its new home. Red splashes dotted the ivory coloured piece of material as the wolves sat patiently near the evidence as Eva pulled her radio up, her chest pounding as she could hear her brothers confusion,   
“Requesting backup, south shores. Situated between the conservatory and the fly shop” Eva murmured quietly, aware of any sounds and movement that could give her position away. She fiddled with her radio, muting her brothers as she held it close, “I can’t see _anything._ Her skirt is torn, droplets of blood. I’m going to search, I’ll mark my Way into trees.”  
  
It hadn’t taken her too much longer to come across a rickety old shack, out of place, in the middle of the thick forest. She had heard the voices before she had seen the rotten wood walls and the grass-covered roof. Eva hissed as she noticed her adopted sister propped up against a window, she assumed it was a bedroom - it was hard to tell with the years of abandonment covering each inch of what she assumed was an old hunters cabin. Her wolves stayed hidden in the scrub as she slipped her backpack off, quietly setting herself up to snipe the men who dared to hurt her family. She knew it wasn’t going to stay silent for long, there were too many of them and she didn’t have enough places to Hide. Eva knew that her brothers were still a couple of hours away, but the rage inside pushed any logical thought away as one of the men began to stroke the unconscious Faith’s arm. Carefully adjusting herself, Eva aimed down the scope at the man’s head, her finger resting on the trigger as she timed herself,   
_‘Do I kick the hornet's nest or just set it on fire’_  
Reconfiguring her aim, Eva timed her breathing as she peered down the scope - now aiming for a nearly intact window to scare the men. A soft smile spread across her face as the scattered, fumbling around for their own weapons. Eva took a few more shots, clearing out a couple of the armed men before she hummed to herself,   
_Let’s kick the hornet's nest now it’s alight’_  
  
With her hunting knife in hand, Eva lunged at the nearest man - the serrated edge of the blade tearing through the man's flesh as she leapt onto her next victim. The sounds of the cries and screams were like music to her ears - It reminded her of the trials Jacob had her run frequently up at the Veterans Centre. Although she could never admit to her brothers that she did enjoy them, each one had learnt new techniques from them and much to the Heralds delight, she had always found a way to keep them amazed as she culled the herds.   
  
 _Red._  
  
 _Every inch of main room had been coated in a shiny new coat of paint.  
  
The littered corpses of those who had hurt her Faith decorated the rundown shack.   
  
She had heard them call her something amongst the screams of horror.   
  
Animalistic.   
  
_  
The blood of the men who had hurt her adopted sister cascaded down her hands and jaw. Her gaze harsh - animalistic - as she finished off the group of men who had brought harm to their family. The screams of bones snapping and limbs being  
severed from torsos became nothing but background sounds. The limp body of Faith lay hidden in the bedroom that the men had tried to take her in, only to have failed from the perfectly timed distraction shot.   
“Please! Have mercy!” One taunted her, as he flung the undergarments of her sister in her direction. Eva scoffed, flipping her hunting blade around,  
“You look just like that crazy cunt, Jacob, after he goes _culling_ ” Another smirked, as they circled Eva as though she was their pray, “You’re surrounded girlie, we’ve got men coming. Let us _fuck_ you and we’ll forgive you.”  
Chuckling, she adjusted her grip on the small blade,   
“It’s a nice offer, but I have to pass.”  
Throwing the knife behind her, she swung, striking the man behind her with her foot. She could hear reinforcements yelling in shock somewhere around her as she lunged for the blade. Her blood-soaked fingers brushed against the hilt of the knife as she grasped it tightly, readying herself to attack again.   A bullet whizzed cleanly broke through a window near her as it lodged itself into one of the man's forehead, the sound of wolves rushing into the building made her wipe at the sticky red substance coating her hands and face.   
  
“Jesus Eva, you’re as bad as Jacob” John chuckled, as he dabbed at her skin with a damp towel,   
“I… don’t know what came over me” She murmured as she splashed lukewarm water on her face,  
“Well, you culled the herd alright.”   
Eva chuckled, eyeing Faith carefully as she sat sadly on the bottom step. They had burnt the shack Faith had been held hostage in and had come across a cabin in the woods. The Siren hadn’t spoken much since she had been rescued, Joseph had made sure to keep her from seeing the carnage Eva had caused.   
“There’s a spare set of clothes in the bag Luca’s in” Eva hummed as she offered her sister a soft smile,  
“I… don’t remember much of what happened” Faith admitted, “I knew those men, but I can’t recall much… The angels attacked and everything went fuzzy…  
“They knocked you out and tried to hurt you” Eva frowned as she struggled to think of the words to use, not wanting to scare the young woman.  
“You are safe now though” Jacob eyed the auburn woman carefully, “Looks like your training worked out, kitten.”  
  
“Eva, we think it’d be best if you helped Jacob out in the Whitetails” Joseph’s voice split the silence as they began their hike back to the mainland. John had exchanged his plane for a boat after Eva had called for back up many hours ago,   
“Are you suggesting that or ordering?” Eva mused as ran her fingers down the soft coat of one of her wolves,  
“After your stint today, we think it’s wise” John added, as Eva tensed at the memory. Joseph and John had seen Jacob go through a similar trance from time to time and had realised that sometimes it was easier to leave the raging bull to rampage through the china shop than to stop it.  
“We just want what is best for you and we think you could prove useful to our cause” Jacob hummed, patting her back, “The wolves love you and a lot of our men are terrified of you.”  
Eva chuckled as she thought about all the different options, ever since she had moved in many moons ago, she had felt love like she had never felt. She had sensed that Joseph had been trying to get her to join their sect and she hadn’t really considered it, until now.  
 _“I’m not making any promises.”_  
  



	22. Chapter 22

Eva sat overlooking the entirety Of Hope County, the cracks of sunshine broke through the early morning haze. It had been almost two years since she had made her move into the county and she had certainly seen the changes across the valley. The Project at Eden's Gate now owned the Whitetail Mountains, having finally pushed the Whitetail Militia out. Eva had been there when Jacob had stormed into the Wolve’s Den with his men, slaughtering anyone who tried to resist them.

 __  
Shelving units and desks had been used as pitiful barricades as blood painted the walls of the cold and dull grey concrete interior. Bodies of those who had refused were thrown into a common room as the Chosen worked on gathering the remaining survivors up. Eva crept along a corridor, the ceiling lamp flickered meekly, trying to hold onto any of the remaining gasoline in one of the many generators. She had strayed off alone, knowing Jacob was going to follow as soon as he had cleared one of the major storage rooms out.  
“Eva, anyone on the west wing?” His thick, gravelly voice echoed along the near-empty hall,  
“Hmm?” She mused as she returned to reality, as she stopped near a room she wished she could never see again. Nothing had changed. Her dried blood splattered along the walls and the thick stench of dirt and bodily grieve lingered heavily in the air.  
“Is anyone in the west wing, Kitten?” Jacob’s tone changed as he gently scolded her for ignoring his question,  
“…Just…just me” She murmured as the visions returned. The ratty cage she had been kept in, like some dog, the binds that had once been wrapped around her wrists and kept her blindfolded.  
“Is everything okay?”  
“I…”  
“You’re outside of the room, aren’t you?”  
“I’m sorry…brother…”  
  
Jacob wasted no time at all, maneuvering Down the winding corridors. He had switched his radio to the shared channel, so their siblings could contact them if necessary.  
“Evie” Jacob hummed gently into the radio, frowning slightly at the sound of a sob in reply, “You’re okay, no one is going to hurt you now, kitten.”  
“I… I can’t do it, Jacob…” Eva whimpered as she slumped to the ground, her gaze fixated on the room of torture,  
“You survived for us. Evie, you can do it” John replied with a tone of disappointment. The youngest Seed brother knew in-depth About Eva’s struggles as he and his younger sister had spent many nights talking about their past troubles over bottles of fine liquors and expensive fine dinings.  
Jacob hummed in agreement as the whimpers and cries of painful remembrance grew louder, he could see her figure, slumped to the ground as she kept her arms firmly around her chest,  
“Hey Evie” Jacob rubbed her back as he crouched beside her, one arm coiled across her back as his other gently cupped her face, “You’re doing well, Kitten.”  
The inked woman struggled to blink away tears as she watched her eldest brother closely, his fingers gently brushing away her unkempt fringe from across her eyes as he smiled softly,  
“I’m… so sorry brother” Her voice was hoarse from the sorrow she had for herself,  
“You don’t need to be sorrow, Eva. You are very brave being here and doing this” He reassured her, as he eyed the room he had found her many months ago. The images of her vulnerable and weak body still haunted him - even more than the war. He had grown used to killing and death but, to him, the thought of losing his precious younger sister was too much.  
  
The duo stayed in silence, sitting together - Eva resting into her brother - until he murmured that they needed to move. He had alerted his men to finish clearing out the bunker while he looked after his sister.  
“I’m sorry Jakey…” The woman’s voice broke the serene silence first as she craned her neck up to look at her older brother through heavy eyes,  
“We’re all allowed our moments, Evie” Jacob reassured her as he gently nudged her up, his hands resting on her back as she stumbled a bit, “It’s up to you whether we blow this place up or we leave it as is.”  
“I want to get rid of it if that’s alright? After we clear it out of food and any arsenal that may be lying around…” Eva smiled meekly as she rested on her brother,  
“I’ll have the Chosen finish clearing it out for us, and then if you want you can press the detonate button”  Jacob offered as they began their long trudge back to one of the exits of the bunker,  
“I think I’ll let you or John fight over the detonation. I just want it gone, too many… memories that I don’t want.”  
  
  
Eva adjusted herself as the pack of wolves came running over the rolling hills, little Luca hung happily by her scruff as one of the wolves gently plonked the pup down. She couldn’t help but stifle a laugh as she smiled at the sight of her wild friends, the canines never leaving her or Luca’s side, even in the midst of battle.  
“You know, change has happened and I still can’t really see it” Eva began as the morning breeze ruffled her hair and clothes, her fingers gently intertwining into the coat of one of the wolves who had snuggled down beside her for a rest.  
“It’s all in front of me and I almost feel blinded by it, maybe I don’t want to see the _change_ for myself?”  
Eva hummed as she watched the hours trickle past her, the occasional radio call disturbing her silence as her brothers called to check in on her.  
  
“Eva” John’s voice dragged her out of her peaceful thoughts for the eighth time as she slowly became aware that the sun had begun to settle,  
“Eva, it’s been a whole day and no one has seen you” John added as Eva hissed in shock, remembering she had to get down to the Spread Eagle for work,  
“Hey, Johnny” Eva groaned as she pulled herself up, slumping a small satchel across her shoulders as she began to scramble back towards her house, “How’ve you been?”  
“Evie, dear… Where were you today?” The youngest Seed brother hummed in annoyance as she frowned,  
“I was up on the mountains watching the world, brother. I had the wolves with me and I guess I lost track of time.”  
“You obviously lost track of responding to us over the radio, Jacob and Joseph both asked you questions that you never replied too.”  
“Oh shit, I’m sorry…” Eva mumbled a meek apology, knowing how easily her brothers began to worry if she didn’t respond to them quickly enough. The Seed Brothers were always on edge if their little sister didn’t reply fast enough, thoughts of her being trapped in a small room, being tortured and unable to get free - haunted them.  
  
“Eva, do you know what today is?” Faith grinned as Eva entered the Spread Eagle, all eyes were on her as she dropped her bag and gun near Jacob,  
“Today’s a special day?” Eva eyed her family as she took a seat near the bar, allowing herself to have a moment's rest before she began to work. John stifled a chuckle as he ran his fingers through his hair,  
“Evie, it’s your birthday” Jacob nudged her as she furrowed her brow in utter confusion,  
“No… isn’t that next month?”  
“Even I had it written on the calendar, darlin’” Mary chuckled, as she pointed it out to the inked woman,  
“Surely it’s not my birthday… I haven’t… celebrated ever since…” Eva frowned, remembering her late family. Joseph had planted a small garden near her house in honour of her lost parents, knowing that she had tried to ignore her brothers near the anniversary of their deaths.  
“We’ve got you a cake and food sorted, let’s have a good night over at the Ranch and do whatever you want to do” Joseph would smile gently wrapping an arm around Eva’s waist, much to his sister's disapproval. Since her parents had died, Eva had spent her birthday at home with as much alcohol as she could handle, the thought of even sharing her peaceful moments with others made her frown.  
“I think I’d just like to go home and have a night by myself…” Eva began as John eyed her warily,  
“We’re celebrating together, kitten” The youngest Seed sibling hummed, pulling his sister into a hug, “C’mon it’ll be fun.”  
  
Eva hissed as loud music vibrated the walls, instead of a party - it had become more like an expensively bad nightclub. She had lost her family in the swarm of cultists and her friends, but she didn’t care anymore. Her cheeks flushed deeply from the immense heat of too many people all gathered in one location, all forgetting the main reason they had even come to - as much as she despised saying it - her birthday.  
_’I am never trusting anyone with my birthday again’_ Eva thought as she managed to slip between dancing bodies and step out into the blissful cold air of the night. Her gaze scanned the area quickly, making sure she was alone before she began to trudge back to her car.  
“You know you’ve had a shitty birthday when you don’t even get a slice of cake” Eva sighed as she turned her car heater on, “I didn’t even manage to get a single alcoholic drink…God dammit John, why did you invite the whole bloody county.”  
Eva grumbled to herself, leaning back in her seat as she watched the figures dancing around in the aviation hanger - now she had realised why John had been so agitated on their drive over. She quickly typed out a mass text to the Seed’s alerting them that she was heading home, as the passenger door was opened,  
“Do you mind if we join you?”  
  
Eva hummed as Jacob cracked open three beers and easily balanced two pizzas as he carried them over to the two woman resting in the small living room of Eva’s house,  
“I should’ve warned you about John’s parties” Jess grinned as she nudged Eva gently, “They are some of the worst clusterfucks the county sees.”  
Eva chuckled as she gladly took the beer,  
“That definitely wasn’t a party I wanted for myself….Why did they even throw me that?”  
“Joseph and John grab every opportunity they’re given, Evie” Jacob shrugged, “I didn’t know that had gone out of their way to invite _almost_ everyone.”  
“They aren’t getting any Christmas gifts from me this year…” Eva frowned, as she eyed the clock sadly, “Well, that was my birthday over and done with for another year…”  
Jacob and Jess shared a sad look, deeming how they were going to make it up to the inked woman,  
“What do you want to do, Eva?” Jess hummed, resting her arm on the woman’s shoulder,  
“I honestly just wanted to go on another hike, up into the hills to watch the sunset over the valley  - but of course John had other ideas…” Eva frowned, ruffling the soft fur of Luca as she frowned,  
“Go pack a bag then” Jacob hummed, as he strolled into her kitchen to gather non-perishable items, “There’s a small area we can stay in - small waterfall and lake, overlooking the county.” 

The cool breeze of the starry night caused the trio to shiver slightly as the pack of wolves lingered between them - Luca had found her way into Jacob’s pack, nestled contently amongst a blanket. They had hiked for almost an hour before the trees began to spread out, opening up to a hidden clearing on the side of a mountain. Far below them, the faint lights of society made the trio aware they were never truly going to be alone - the wars were going to rage on even when they weren’t present themselves.  
“I could live up here… Away from the _crazy_ ” Eva would hum as she began to set up the individual tents for each of them.  
Jacob scoffed as he eyed his sister, as he placed his bag down gently - letting Luca prance around contently,  
“The crazy will still find you. Even if you jumped countries”  
“Crazy is everywhere” Jess added on as she ruffled Eva’s hair.  
“I guess… But at this moment it’s just us…” Eva turned to face the county below them, her gaze focusing more on the stars illuminating the darkened sky. Jess and Jacob shared a quick look as they moved over, standing on each side of the tattooed woman as she stared contently at the world before her. The peaceful serenity washed over them as they all took the moment in for themselves, the tension in them seemed to be blown away in the night breeze. A small smile slowly etched its way upon Eva’s face as she gently nudged her brother and her friend,  
“In all the crazy that’s gone on since I arrived… I think it’s good” Eva began as she sat, allowing the wolves to happily nudge her,  
“Change is good, it helps shape who we are.”  
“You certainly have changed Evie” Jacob hummed, ruffling his sister's hair as he sat beside her. The silence slowly seeped back in as Jess shuffled around the wolves to sit beside the two Seed siblings, her fingers intertwining with Eva’s as they shared a small smile together, Eva took a deep breath as she looked around at her canine family, __  
"I’ve finally changed for the better.”

**Author's Note:**

> When I was playing Far Cry 5 I had an idea that the Seed brothers had a younger biological sister.  
> Violence and Deputy Wrath are going to make their appearance later on :)


End file.
